


Going Home

by Faith280



Category: Red vs Blue
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-25
Updated: 2019-04-10
Packaged: 2019-12-07 20:42:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 23,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18239963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Faith280/pseuds/Faith280
Summary: Simmons wants a second honeymoon alone with Grif more than anything else. Grif knows the perfect place, his home state of Hawaii. Plenty of privacy, beaches to relax on, and a dysfunctional mother to visit; it’s not all paradise.Meanwhile, Tucker and Wash are left with five young kids. Tucker’s got a game plan, this is easy. Wash just has to sit back and watch him crash and burn...





	1. 1

  
  


“Grif, what’s wrong with you? Can’t you even straighten up the bedroom for me?”

  
Grif looked around the room. “What’s wrong with it?”

  
Simmons glared at him. “It’s a total mess, funny how it’s all on your side of the room.”

  
“It’s not messy, it’s lived in.”

  
Simmons groaned. “How can you live in a pigsty like this? There’s clothes thrown all over the floor. All of these plates, no wonder I have so many missing from the cupboard.”

  
“That’s because you never let me have second helpings at dinner.”

  
“It’s because you don’t need any. Are you going to straighten this up or do I need to do everything around here?”

  
Simmons was at his wit’s ends. He had been bugging Grif for a while that they needed a vacation, a kind of second honeymoon.

After putting up with three kids and Grif, he really needed one. But his husband never listened.

  
Grif picked up a couple of the shirts from the floor and threw them into the hamper. He looked around the room. “There, that looks good.”

  
He went out to the kitchen to find Simmons. “There big mouth, the bedroom is straightened. That was exhausting, I need a soda.”

  
Simmons frowned, he couldn’t possibly be done this fast. “Let me go check on this. “Grif! You didn’t clean anything.”

  
Grif rolled his eyes and went in to check. “Yes I did too, a threw a couple of the dirty shirts in the hamper.”

  
“What about the rest of them?”

  
“Well there’s different degrees of clean, I can probably wear those a couple of more times.”

  
Simmons looked at him like he was crazy before pushing him out if the way. “Fine, I’ll do it myself.”

  
“Okay, if you insist…”  
He took off to see what the kids were up to, but not before Simmons heard his cell phone go off.

That was the fifth time today. This had been going on for the last two weeks. Grif’s answer was always the same, that it was nobody. What the hell was he up to?

  
Simmons finished cleaning the bedroom. It would stay that way for a whole five minutes, once hurricane Grif came in, it would be a mess again. He tried not to think about the weird phone calls, it probably was nothing.

  
It’s not like Grif would ever cheat on him, he was too lazy for that. But still, he didn’t want to take a second honeymoon, and the two were so busy with the kids, there was no extra time left in the day for for just the two of them. And Simmons nagged at him constantly. Maybe he was driving Grif away. He tried to push the idea out of his head.

  
Grif was in the living room with their oldest son Dexter, they were getting ready to play video games. Simmons didn’t want to bring it up, especially in front of Dex, but he had to.

  
“Uhh Grif, Who was on the phone a little while ago?”

  
Grif hardly looked up at him. “Oh that? It was nothing.” He went back to his game.

  
Simmons didn’t want to get upset, but he felt the tears coming and couldn’t stop them.

“Oh really, so it’s been nothing for the last two weeks? That’s a coincidence.” He was getting choked up.

  
Now he had Grif’s attention. Dex looked worried, he hated when his dads fought. “It’s okay Dex, start the game without me, I’ll be back in a minute.”

  
He followed Simmons into the kitchen, but Simmons going wang him there. “Just go back to your damn game, I don’t even want to look at you right now.”

  
Grif was confused. “Why, because I’m getting annoying phone calls? What’s wrong with you?”

  
“Nothing is wrong, so leave me alone.”

  
Grif put his hand on his shoulder and he tried to jerk away. “I’m not gonna leave you alone until you tell me what’s wrong.”

  
“All these mysterious phone calls, you’re probably cheating on me.”

  
He couldn’t be serious. “What? Of course I’m not cheating on you. That requires actual time and work. Do you realize how long I waited for you? You’re the only one I ever loved.”

  
“Then who are you talking to?”

  
“Kai.”

  
Simmons looked confused. “Why wouldn’t you want me to know you were talking to your sister?”

  
“Because I was trying to ignore her, that’s why I said it was nothing. She’s been in Hawaii the last two weeks visiting Mom, she’s been bugging me to call her. I’ve done everything to try to change the subject.”

  
“Why don’t you want to talk to your mom?”

  
“Because she ditched me when I was kid, and she knows where we live, she knows how to dial a phone, and she knows how to write a letter. But there’s been squat from her since we got married. She won’t even see her grandkids. That’s why I don’t wanna talk to her.”

  
“Yeah, I guess that’s fair enough.”

  
Grif started laughing. “ I can’t believe you thought I’d cheat on you.”

  
Simmons blushed. “Well, What was I supposed to think?”

  
Grif put his arms around him. “You know what? You’ve been whining for months about a second honeymoon, with all this talk of Hawaii, let’s go there for a week, just the two of us.”

  
Simmons was in shock. “Uh, I don’t know. What about the kids? We can’t expect Wash and Tucker to handle five kids.”

  
“Hey, when they went on their honeymoon, they had us watching their kids. David was a little baby then. I was up every two hours and I changed diapers…they owe us.”

  
“I still don’t know…let’s bring the subject up later and see if they offer to babysit. Maybe we could vacation closer to home.”

  
Grif acted hurt. “I thought you’d like to see my old neighborhood, and you love spending time on the beach. Hawaii’s perfect for you.”

  
“Okay, I’ll bring it up. They were coming over tonight with the kids, it would be perfect timing.” He went back to his cleaning.

  
Grif had him hooked in the idea. Now he had to call Kai, and find the least emotionally painless way he could meet with his mom.

  
  
  


 

 


	2. Chapter 2

 

Simmons caught up with the twins as they were running out the back door to play outside.

  
“Hi Dad.” Jacob called.

  
“Bye Dad!” Mira giggled as she went past.

  
“Woah, both of you. Did you each clean your half of the bedroom?”

  
Jacob confidently answered. “Yes, I always do.”

  
At the same time Mira answered. “Uh, not really.”

  
“Okay, Jake good job; Mira, get in there and straighten your room.”

  
She pouted. “Aww, I don’t want to, I wanna go out and play.”

  
“Then the faster you stop whining with me and the faster you clean, the sooner you can go outside. We’re having company later, we can’t have any messes.”

  
She could see there was no way past it. She sulked all the way to her bedroom with Jacob right behind. The two always did everything together. If Mira couldn’t go outside, Jacob wouldn’t go without her.

  
Grif came in all excited. “Hey, Kai…ehh a travel site was able to get us a good deal for a week vacation in Honolulu. We can be all set to leave in four days. Isn’t that great?”

  
“Are you crazy? Do you know how much time I would need to properly organize for a trip like this? We haven’t even asked Wash and Tucker. What if they can’t babysit, then what would we do? This is too much stress…call it off!”

  
“Alright, Chill out, you’re gonna give yourself a stroke. I know I don’t do enough to show you how much I appreciate you, so let me try now. I’ll handle all the transportation, packing and hotel arrangements for you. All you have to do is come with me. How about that?”

  
He held Simmons’ hand and he sounded so sincere, how could he resist Grif . “Sure, I’ll go with you. I want to be alone with you more than anything else.”

  
He looked at Grif with such trust and love, that Grif almost felt guilty. Kai had made arrangements for Grif and Simmons to stay at their Mom’s house. She was springing for the trip too, it wouldn’t cost Grif much of anything. It was still a second honeymoon…sort of.

  
He was saved by Mira’s interruption. “My room’s all clean Daddy! Can I go play now?” She ran up to him, followed by Jacob.

  
Simmons just looked at her, he knew his kids too well. “Did you really clean your room, or did Jake do it for you?”

  
“Oh no, I cleaned it by myself.”

She avoided making eye contact with her Dad, that’s how he could tell when she was lying.

  
Simmons gave a look to Jacob, he would always tell the truth, he was terrible at lying. He shook his head no to his Dad.

  
Mira pouted. “Hey, I helped!”

Again Jacob shook his head no, he was trying not to laugh.

  
Grif grinned, “Yep, that’s my girl.”

  
“You shut up, you’re no role model to your kids. Jake, I’m going to give you some advice, if you keep doing things for Mira, she’ll never do it on her own.” He glared over at Grif. “Trust me, I know what I’m talking about it. Now you guys can go out and play.”

  
Grif was trying to be subtle. “So I think I can go ahead and book our trip?”

  
“No…how are we going to fly there? I hate flying as it is.”

  
“I’m sure we can arrange a shuttle for the nearest airport.” He would put Kai on the case, she could figure it out. “And I’ll be beside you the entire flight, you’ll be fine.”

  
“How the hell can we afford this? It’s got to cost a fortune to go all the way to Earth. This is a bad idea.”

  
“No, it’s fine. It’s more affordable than you think. It’s the off season in Hawaii, everything’s cheaper this time of year.”

  
Simmons frowned, something was up, he just knew it. Grif was never this motivated to do anything.

“After all these months, why are so worried about our vacation now? It’s always your motto to be as lazy as possible.”

  
Shit, Simmons was too smart. “Hey, I can motivated to do stuff. This is my gift to you. You are my motivation.” It sounded lame, but he had to throw Simmons off the track.

  
He still didn’t quite believe Grif, but at least he’d get a vacation out of this.

“All right as long as it’s okay with Wash and Tucker.”

  
“Don’t worry, it will be.” As soon as Grif made a little phone call to Tucker it would be. He slipped away to the privacy of the bedroom.

 

  
“Hey Tucker, I got a little favor to ask you…”

  
“Yeah dude, what’s up?”

  
“Would you and Wash be able to watch the kids for a week for us?”

  
“Woah, you and Simmons never go anywhere, especially for that long. Is everything okay?”

  
“Well, yes and no. My Mom is bugging me to come visit her in Hawaii, and Simmons has been bugging me for a second honeymoon, so instant solution to both problems is to go to Honolulu for a week.”

  
“I thought you weren’t talking to your mom?”

  
“I’m not, but she’s been whining about wanting to talk about things that happened, explanations to why my childhood was so terrible; bullshit that I don’t wanna listen to. I’m only doing for Kai, she’s the only decent one in my family.”

  
“Does Simmons know about this?”

  
“He thinks it’s a second honeymoon and nothing more. Don’t tell him before I have a chance to tell him.”

  
“When do you plan on telling him?”

  
“Oh, maybe after the shuttle takes off, that way he can’t back out of it. Do you think and Wash can help us out?”

  
“Sure, I’m cool with it, so will Wash. I’ll take responsibility of the kids, it’ll be fine.”

  
“Thanks man, I owe you one.”

  
“Yes you do, and I’ll make sure you pay me back. I’ll see ya.”

  
“See you Tucker.”

  
Wow, this is working out better than he expected.  
  
  
  



	3. Chapter 3

 

“Grif, Wash and Tucker are going to be here any minute, could you get the barbecue ready?”

  
Grif groaned. “Why is barbecuing always my job around here?”

  
“Because you’re the best at it. You can get the hamburgers cooked perfectly, mine are always too dry.”

  
“God, the one time I decided to cook, and it still comes back to haunt me.”

  
“Just quit bitching about it and start the grill.”

  
Wash showed up first, he had little David in his arms. He was almost three, and was a major handful for Wash to handle. He was as clingy with Wash as Jacob was with Simmons. He really loved Tucker, but Wash was his favorite.

  
With his light brown skin, big brown eyes and the dimples on his cheeks, he was always the center of attention wherever he went. He was such a smiley, happy toddler.

  
When he saw Simmons, he gave a big smile and waved at him. “Hi Uncle Simmons!” Even as a little baby, Simmons was always his second favorite.

  
He waved back to David. “Hi kiddo, did you get a new haircut?”

  
His curly brown hair had been getting long and wild. Tucker thought he looked cute like that. Wash disagreed and went to have his hair buzzed short. That was how Wash always wore his blond hair. Tucker wasn’t pleased when he saw it.

  
David loved it. “Yep, my hair looks like Daddy’s now.”

  
Wash smiled affectionately at his son. “He’s all ready for the military now. Tucker is still ticked off at me. He wanted David’s hair to look more like his.”

  
“It’ll grow back.”

  
Wash nodded. “That’s what I told him, but still he threw a temper tantrum over it.”

  
“Damn right I had a tantrum. He’s my son too.” Tucker startled everyone. “Huh, little dude?”

  
David smiled at him. “Yep Daddy!”

  
Tucker brought Chloe with him. She and Dex ran off to play on the swing set before the twins could interrupt them. David struggled to get out of Wash’s arms so he could follow after them. Soon, all five kids were fighting over who got to use the swings next.

  
Tucker looked around. “When the hell do we eat, I’m starving.”

  
Wash glared at him. “Stop it! Where are your manners?”

  
Simmons chuckled. “Don’t worry, Grif is heating the grill up. The burgers will be ready soon.”

  
“Good lord, by the time Grif is done sampling the food, we’ll all starve to death.”

  
With Simmons watching Grif like a hawk so he wouldn’t eat any of the food, he soon had enough hamburgers for everyone. After they had dinner, the kids went to go play again, that way, the parents could talk.

  
Grif kept elbowing Simmons to speak up that they needed a sitter for the week. Every time Simmons tried to bring it up, he got tongue tied. He looked helplessly at Grif, how the hell did he start this?

  
Grif grunted, he had to do everything himself. “Uh, Hey Wash, would you and Tucker ever mind babysitting all the kids for us?”

  
Wash frowned slightly as he thought about it. “Yeah sure, that would be no problem.”

  
Grif was a little more relieved. “Good, cause our shuttle leaves in four days so we can go to Hawaii for a week.” He talked as fast as possible.

  
Tucker had a terrible poker face. He already knew all about this and had a hard time keeping a straight face. Wash shot him a questioning look, what was wrong him?

  
Simmons’ face burned, Grif embarrassed him so much sometimes. He kicked his leg from under the table.

  
Grif looked at him. “Ouch, What was that for?”

  
“Can’t you be more subtle?”

  
“No, at this rate, we’ll be here discussing this until the day we leave.”

  
Wash interrupted their argument. “No, guys it’s okay. So you’re going to Hawaii for a week?”

  
Simmons took over the conversation. “Yes, I thought we needed a second honeymoon, and out of nowhere, Grif springs this trip to Hawaii on me. It’s short notice, even for me. He claims he knows what he’s doing.”

  
Tucker tried to step in to help. “Hey, isn’t that great. I happen to be the best babysitter in the world. Three kids for one week, that’s easy.”

  
Wash shot him a look. “Oh really? I think we need to make up a game plan. It will make the week easier on everyone.”

  
Tucker rolled his eyes. “Oh god, everything has to be on a schedule with you. I know what I’m doing. Which one of us do our kids think is the ‘cool Dad’?”

  
Wash felt like he had been slapped, it would have hurt less if Tucker had hit him. “Fine, if you know what you’re doing, don’t come crying to me when you can’t handle it.”

  
The pain Tucker saw in his big blue eyes, broke his heart. He was joking around with Wash, not insulting him. “Hey honey, I didn’t mean it that way. It was a joke, the kids are crazy about you, David likes you more than he does me. I love you.”

  
Wash sighed and dropped his head. He knew Tucker was only kidding, but sometimes his remarks bruised Wash’s ego. He had grown up in a dysfunctional military family. His Dad was abusive and his Mom just set by and let him terrorize Wash.

  
Years in the military did nothing to help it. He didn’t want to end up like his father, he would rather die than ever hurt Chloe and David. He wished he could relax and be easygoing like Tucker, but he couldn’t.

  
He exhaled the deep breath he didn’t realize he was holding in. “I know babe, I’m sorry.” He came back to reality. “Simmons, don’t worry about the kids, they’ll be fine. You guys can take all the time you need. I’m going to head for home.”

  
Wash hated all the flashbacks, he wished he could live a normal life. He got up from the picnic table. Tucker still looked worried about him.

“Wait, I’ll get the kids, and we’ll all go home together.”

  
Wash stopped him. “No…it’s okay, you guys can stay longer. I’ll be alright.” He walked off without looking back. Tucker felt like he really screwed up.

  
Grif felt bad, he lightly hit Tucker on the shoulder. “Sorry man, I didn’t mean to start a fight.”

  
Tucker shook it off, he tried to act like it was nothing. “Nah, it’s my own fault. He’ll get over it, he always does.” He pretended to be watching the kids play. He choked back tears he was too proud to cry.

  
Why was he so scared that one day Wash wouldn’t get over it?


	4. Chapter 4

 

Bedtime was never an easy task at the Grif-Simmons house. It always wore Simmons out more than it did the kids.

Bath time was the worst and Grif was no help at all. He was as bad as the kids.

  
Dex and Jacob weren’t too bad, the hard one to control was Mira. Everything with that kid was a power struggle. She rebelled too much against authority like Grif did.

  
Simmons planned to tell the kids about the vacation at bedtime tonight. Dex and Mira should be fine with it, it was Jacob that he worried about. Simmons had never been away from his children for any length of time. The thought of leaving them for a whole week was choking him up.

  
Dex had become quite independent since starting school and Mira would get more upset over missing Grif, but Jacob was Simmons’ little clone.

Even at four years old, he still followed close to his Dad. Simmons didn’t know if Jacob could handle it. Hell, Simmons didn’t know if he could handle leaving his kids.

  
Grif already made their travel arrangements, it was too late to back out now. At least Simmons had a few days to get Jacob used to idea that he had to leave.

  
Both twins always took forever with their bath time. They had a bunch of toys for the bathtub and they liked to play with them every night before bed.

By the time they were done, the water was ice cold, their fingers and toes were all pruny, and Simmons would be drenched. It was never his highlight of parenthood.

  
Trying to get them dried off and into their pajamas was the hardest task, especially with Mira. She was always hyperactive, it was impossible for her to stand still.

  
“Grif, can you give me a hand with your daughter?”

  
Grif rolled his eyes, he loved how Simmons always complained she was his daughter whenever he couldn’t control her. She inherited her hyperactivity from Simmons, Grif was never that active.

“Alright, alright I’m coming.”

  
Simmons had towels on the kids but they were still wet. “Stay on the bath mat until you’re dry.” Jacob listened and stayed, Mira wanted to go to Grif.

  
“ Mira, you’re going to slip.”

  
He should have saved his breath. She broke away from him and went running out to the hallway to get to Grif. The hall was all hardwood floor and as Simmons predicted, she slipped and crashed into the wall. She started crying.

  
Grif ran to check, but she was okay. “You see, this is why you don’t run around the house wet.” He picked her up and carried her back to the bathroom. “There, I caught her for you.”

  
“Are you Okay honey?” Simmons checked her over.

She nodded, she was still sniffling. Simmons got her in her pajamas. Such an easy nightly chore had to turn into an hour long ordeal. He looked completely exhausted.

  
Grif felt bad and tried to help. “I’ll get the twins settled and you can check on Dex.”

  
Simmons went across the hall and peeked in Dex’s room. “You doing okay buddy?” He was already in his pajamas and was in his bed reading a book.

  
“Yeah Dad, I was trying to get some of my library book read.”

  
“Is that the one about the Solar System?” He nodded. “That’s cool, finish up, it’s almost time for bed.”

  
“Okay Dad, just one more chapter.” He continued reading.

He was such a good kid, even as a baby, he never gave Simmons a hard time. Unlike his sister.

  
He went next door to the twins’ room. Grif had them all tucked in and they were waiting for Simmons to say goodnight.

“Hey guys, we got something to tell you before you go to bed.”

  
He sat on the edge of Jacob’s bed while Grif stayed close to Mira’s. Jacob cuddled up to his dad so he could hear his news. This wasn’t going to be easy to tell them.

  
“On Saturday your Dad and I are going away on a vacation for a week. It’s to Hawaii, that’s where your Dad grew up.”

  
Mira was interested. “Are we going too? I wanna go to Earth.”

  
Grif answered. “No honey, not this time. We’ll take a family vacation later on.”

  
Jacob looked worried, his big green looked helplessly up at Simmons. “Where are we going?”

Looking at that sad, innocent face made Simmons feel so guilty.  
“With Uncle Wash and Uncle Tucker. It’ll be like a sleepover. You’ll have a lot of fun.”

  
Jacob didn’t look convinced. “Why can’t I go?”

  
Grif stepped in for Simmons. He could tell how stressed he was getting. “Because Earth is too far, you guys are too young, and we have Mira’s asthma to worry about, and the two of us want to be alone.”

  
Tears formed in Jacob’s eyes. “Don’t you like us anymore?”

Simmons wiped away his tears.

  
“Of course we still like you, we love you guys. Stop worrying, go to sleep. It’ll be fine. Grif gave them each a kiss   
goodnight.

  
Simmons turned off their lamp and switched on the nightlight before giving them each their bedtime kiss. He tried not to look at Jacob, he willed himself to be strong.

“Good night guys.”

  
Dex was a lot easier. His eyes got big with shock and he looked a little sad. Simmons sat beside him. “Are you Okay with all this buddy?”

  
Dex nodded. “Yeah, I think I’ll be okay.” He was trying to be strong.

  
“Thank you, I’ll need for you to watch out for your brother and sister, especially Jake. He’s missing me already, I don’t know if he’s old enough to handle this. You two are good friends, so try to keep from getting too homesick.”

  
Dex looked very serious. “Okay Daddy, we’ll be okay.”

  
“Thanks buddy, I needed to hear that. Good night.” He turned off the light and left the door halfway open.

  
When Simmons got back to the bedroom, Grif was already stretched out in bed waiting for him. Simmons didn’t get his hopes up. Give Grif five more minutes, and he’ll be sound asleep and snoring away.

  
As Simmons slipped under the covers, a new panic hit. “How the hell do I even pack for this trip? What do you plan on us doing all week?

  
“What? I don’t know, pack clothes, the less nerdy the better. And you burn easily, bring sunscreen. Can you just chill out and enjoy a moment for once? Trust me, that’s all I ask.”

  
For the first time since Grif mentioned the trip, Simmons calmed down. “Okay, of course I trust you. This will be the best vacation ever.”

  
He snuggled closer to Grif and laid in his arms. Grif felt bad, he wasn’t exactly lying to Simmons, but not being exactly honest either.

It was just that he loved his husband so much, he needed the emotional support to get through all the pain that seeing his mother again would bring.

  
Simmons would forgive him, he always did.


	5. Chapter 5

 

Friday night was a hectic one for the Tucker family. Tucker finished up his work Friday evening. He managed to make a deal to get the next week off so he could plan fun activities with all the kids.

  
Polomo and Jensen were taking over the training sequences until Grif and Tucker came back. He only slightly cared how badly those two would be at training. But they were lieutenants, they had to step up and help. No better time to learn.

  
“Hey babe, I got the vacation time I asked for, so it’s all set. You have the the next week of me and five kids. This’ll be fun.”

  
Wash chuckled. “I don’t mind having you around all week, but taking care of all these kids isn’t going to be easy. I wish you’d reconsider both of us working together as a team.”

  
“No way, I know that I’m doing. You’re stuck at home all day with the kids as it is. It’s almost like you’re getting the week off.”

  
Wash knew his husband too well, he was too overconfident. This wasn’t going to end up well, but damned if Wash could convince him that. Tucker was going to have to learn the hard way.

  
Wash needed to change the subject. “I went ahead and set up the air mattress in David’s room for Dex and Jake. I figured Mira could bunk with Chloe.”

  
Tucker tried not to be upset. “That’s great babe, but I wanna be in charge here, it’s important to me.”

  
“You are in charge, I was only helping you. Continue on with your plans.” He was trying not to laugh at Tucker, he was acting so serious about it.

  
Chloe picked that very moment to come out of her room. “How do I look?”

  
She had her favorite pink dress with lacy trim. She had the pink feather boa she wore last Halloween on. Her face was plastered with makeup. She had on so much glittered eyeshadow that she barely see. Her pink lipstick was smeared messily around her lips. And the bright pink blush looked like clown makeup.

  
Tucker laughed affectionately. “Looking good honey.”

  
Wash glared at him. “Why is she wearing makeup? She’s only seven years old.”

  
Tucker looked confused. “It’s play makeup, the package said for ages four and up. She loves to play dress up, I thought it was perfect for her.”

  
“I don’t care if it’s only for dress up, she’s too young for makeup yet. I do not allow her.”

  
Chloe looked worried, she hated it when her dads fought. She still had major PTSD symptoms from when she abused by her mother. She was scared that this argument was her fault.

  
“Well, I allow it. She’s my biological daughter, not yours.”

  
The second it came out of his mouth, he wanted it back. That wasn’t fair to Wash. He was the one who signed Chloe’s adoption papers five years ago.

Tucker wouldn’t even have custody of her if it wasn’t for Wash. He was a great dad to her, Chloe loved him as much as she loved Tucker.

  
The look of shock and heartbreak in Wash’s beautiful blue eyes tore at Tucker’s heart. He loved Wash more than he ever loved any of his partners.

  
No matter how bad life got or how badly Tucker behaved, Wash was always there for him. What does Tucker do, he breaks his heart. He was such a terrible husband.

  
Without a word, Wash turned and stalked into their bedroom, and slammed the door. He didn’t want Tucker and Chloe to see him cry.  
Shit, Tucker screwed up big time.

Chloe had tears running down her face. “I’m sorry Daddy, I was only playing. I don’t want you two to be mad at each other.” Her painted lips quivered as she tried not to cry.

  
Tucker put his arms around her. “I know honey, Wash will be alright. It’s my fault, not yours. Just do me a favor and wipe off the makeup, at least until he calms down.”

  
“Okay, I will.” She was calming down.

  
Tucker knocked on the door. “Wash, are you talking to me?”

  
There was no answer, that wasn’t a good sign. “I want to apologize, I’m coming in.” At least the door wasn’t locked.

  
Wash was laying on the bed with his back to the door. He was being way too quiet. Tucker walked over and tried to touch his shoulder. Wash jerked away. He tried to wipe the tears from his cheeks.

Tucker’s heart ached.  
“Wash, I’m sorry, you know I didn’t mean that. You are as much Chloe’s father as I am. I was being stupid.”

  
Wash sniffled. “I know you didn’t mean it, but it’s the truth, and I love her so much that it hurt. If she wants to play around with makeup she can, I just worry that she’s growing up too fast.”

  
“Yeah, she is, but she’s a good kid, thanks to you. We got to be careful, we were stressing her out. I hoped as she got older, she’d forget about her mother, but she still remembers.”

  
Wash finished wiping away his tears. “I’ll go and apologize to her. Then I’ll check on David and start dinner. We have to be up early. Simmons and Grif will be here at 8 am.”

  
Tucker nodded. “If you want to check on Chloe, I’ll get David for you, I am supposed to be in charge of the kids.”

  
Wash smiled at him. “Alright, David was coloring in his room, he may have made a surprise for you, so act surprised.”

  
Tucker blocked him from door and wrapped his arms around him and gave him a big kiss.

“I’m sorry for starting a fight. All of the kids except David have school, so during David’s nap time, we can have our own vacation. This will be the best week ever.”

  
Wash smiled, he hoped Tucker was right.


	6. Chapter 6

 

“Grif move it now, I told Wash I’d have the kids there by eight, it’s already ten after and you’re not even close to be ready.”

  
Grif groaned, why the hell did he agree to leave so early? He was so tired, he felt like he was going on slow motion.

  
“Alright, I’m coming, I think.”

  
“Kids, are you guys all ready?”  
Jacob came out, dragging his duffel bag full of clothes. “I’m coming Daddy.” He was using both hands to drag it, and he was still falling over.

  
Simmons smiled at him “Good job Jake.” He turned to Grif. “Can you help him with that bag?”

  
Grif took the duffel bag and went to pack it out in the car. Simmons wondered what happened to the other two kids. “Dex and Mira, out here now.”

  
They both came running out, trying to race each other to see who would be last. Mira shouted. “I won!”

  
“You did not, you cheated.” Dex was pouting over it.

  
“Cool it guys, don’t act up like this for Wash and Tucker. Last chance, do you have everything you need for the week?”

  
Dex laughed. “No, we need to take Dad’s snack drawer with us.”

  
Mira giggled. “Yeah, I want it too!”

  
Grif grinned evily at them. “Don’t you dare, I know exactly what’s in there. Actually, I may be taking custody of that drawer myself.”

  
“No way, you’re not eating junk food the entire time of our vacation.”

  
“What’s a vacation if there’s no snack food?” He was grumbling already.

  
Jacob made a face. “Eww, that food is gross.”

  
Jacob really was Simmons’ son. “I totally agree with you. Time’s up, everybody out the door now.”

 

 

Tucker watched at the window. “I can’t believe they’re late. I got up early for nothing.”

  
“Give them time. Simmons has three kids and Grif to get ready, I’m not surprised.” Wash glanced at the clock. “Maybe I should give them a call.”

  
“Never mind babe, they’re here.” He opened the back door. “Hey, thank goodness you made it, I was gettin’ worried.”

  
Simmons dropped an arm full of luggage and sighed. He was exhausted already. “Oh god, by the time I could these disasters out the door, I’m surprised it’s not later than it is.”

  
Grif came in trying to juggle the other bags and dropping most of them before he could get in the door. Dex and Jacob tried to help him with some bags, but they weren’t the best help.

  
“You know Tucker, don’t hurt yourself. Instead of standing there gawking at me, you could give me a hand.” Grif was getting pissed.

  
“Nah, this is too much entertainment. Give me a bag you big baby. Kids, pick out your bags and I can get you all packed in.”

  
With Tucker’s help, Dex was able to grab his luggage. Simmons helped the twins. Grif stretched out on the couch, he was exhausted by all that hard work.

  
“Dex and Jake, you guys are bunking with David. He even cleaned up his room so he could have guests.”

  
David was on his bed, playing with his favorite stuffed dog. He stopped and smiled at his company. “Hi, I got neat toys to share and everything. Hi Uncle Simmons!”

  
“Hi there sweetie. You going to take care of the boys for me while I’m gone?”

  
“Yep, we’ll have fun.”

  
Simmons couldn’t resist giving him a hug. “Thank you, I feel better now.”

  
Tucker found room in the large dresser for the boys’ clothes. “All packed in boys, I hope the air mattress is okay. It’s very comfortable. I’ve been grounded from the bedroom enough times to vouch for that.”

  
Simmons shot him a look. “Tucker, shut up in front of the kids.”

  
He rolled his eyes. “Like they really know what I’m talking about. Miss Mira, you’re stuck with Chloe. You’re in luck, she always keep her room neat.”

  
Chloe just finished making her bed. “I made plenty of room in my dresser like you wanted me to Dad.”

  
“Thanks honey. Here Mira everything should fit in here.” He and Simmons went out to join Wash and Grif.

  
Wash looked up when they came into the living room. “Did you get the kids settled in hon?”

  
Tucker nodded, he was all proud of himself. “Five minutes in, and already I did a perfect job. This week is going to be a breeze.”

  
Wash and Simmons exchanged looks. Tucker was going to be in for some surprises. This was the calm before the storm. Grif was too tired to care, Tucker could crash and burn for all he cared.

  
The twins and Dex came out followed by Chloe and David. Simmons looked at his kids, and got choked up again. He’d never been away from them, how could he handle this?

  
“You guys behave for Uncle Tucker and Uncle Wash, you got it?”

  
Dex nodded. He was trying not to cry, but the thought of his Dads leaving him was too much. A few tears ran down his face. Simmons hugged him. “It’ll go by so fast, we’ll be back before you know it.” Simmons had tears in his eyes too.

  
Grif didn’t want to admit how much he would miss the kids too. He put his arms around Dex and Jacob and tried not to cry. “We’ll bring you guys back some souvenirs and stuff. Be good, I’ll miss ya.”

Mira was the hard one to say good bye to. She was already crying for Grif.

  
She threw her arms around his waist. “Daddy, don’t leave me.” Grif couldn’t hold back the tears any longer, they ran down his cheeks. For as tough as he acted, this was his little girl.

  
He wiped his tears from his face before kneeling in front of her. “I know baby girl, I don’t want to, but your Dad and I need this. I promise it will go by fast. I’ll call you everyday. Phone service is expensive, but we’ll still call you guys everyday. Don’t cry honey, it’s okay.” He wiped away her tears. She calmed down a little.

  
Jacob had ahold of Simmons’ arm the entire time. He couldn’t let go of his Dad. Simmons knew this wouldn’t be easy.

  
“Honey, are you okay? You know you have to let go. I’d love to take you with me if I could. We have to get used to being separated at some point, so this is good practice.”

  
Jacob was crying. “Do you really, really have to go?”

  
“Yes honey, I really do. This is important or I wouldn’t leave you guys at all. Can you be brave for me, and let me go?”

  
Jacob thought about it and released his grip. Simmons gave him the biggest hug and kiss. Grif had to pull his husband away from the kids.

When they were safely out the door, Simmons bawled his eyes out. Grif held him close for a few minutes before they had to rush to the airport.

  
They made their shuttle with mere seconds to spare.  



	7. Chapter 7

 

Simmons remembered really quickly why he hated space travel so badly. Right from the takeoff, he felt green and nauseous. He sat still as a statue and clung to the sides of seat for dear life. He was too scared to move.

  
Grif noticed; Simmons always looked this way while flying. He wanted to be supportive, but at the same time wanted to keep a safe distance. Damn this was his husband, he promised to care for him in sickness and health.

  
He asked the obvious question question. “You feeling alright?”

  
Simmons nodded, too afraid to move his head. “Yy…es, I feel ff…ine.” He couldn’t finish, he ran into the small bathroom.

  
Grif sighed and went in to check on him. This is going to be a long flight. There was a refrigerator with drinks, he went to see if there was any Ginger Ale for Simmons. There was one can left, he grabbed himself a coke. He wished they stocked beer on these planes.

  
Simmons was back at his seat, trying to get comfortable. He looked a lot better. Grif sat beside him and handed him the drink.

  
Simmons opened it and took a sip. “Thanks, I should have brought something for motion sickness. I forgot how bad flying affects me.”

  
“Well, that should help settle your stomach.” He downed his Coke in a few gulps.

  
“Yeah, I feel better already.” He sipped at his drink and his body readjusted to whole altitude change. By halfway through, he almost forgot about it. At least they could take the shuttle clear through to Honolulu, he didn’t want to have to go through this ordeal a second time.

  
When Grif got up to use the restroom, his cell phone went off. Simmons checked it, he was paranoid that it was one of the kids. It was only Kai. He figured he should answer it.

  
“Hi Kai, Grif couldn’t come to the phone, so I answered it for him. He’ll be back in a second.”

  
“Hey there sexy brother-in-law. It’s been so long, I can’t wait to see you again.”

  
She was as weird as ever. “Uh, yeah I miss not seeing you too. We got to arrange to all get together sometime.” Or better yet, never.

  
“Yeah I know, that’s why I’m calling. Mom and I will be waiting at the airport to pick you guys up. We can do a little sightseeing and get all caught up with each other. Won’t that be fun?” Her high pitch giggling hurt Simmons’ ears.

  
“Huh, What are you talking about?” He still didn’t know what was going on, but he knew it would involve him strangling Grif.  
Grif walked out to Simmons, one look at his face told him he was in trouble.

  
“Well Kai you’re in luck, Grif is back if you want to talk to him.” He glared at Grif as hard as he could as he handed over the phone.

  
Oh shit, this wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. “Thank you for answering the phone honey.” He tried to flash a fake smile, everything’s good here. His husband wasn’t buying it.

  
“Thanks for blowing Simmons’ surprise Kai.” He wanted to slaughter his sister right now. “I told you not to tell him.”

  
“Oh, I didn’t know you meant to not tell Simmons. I thought you meant to not tell you. Oops, my bad.”

  
 “How the hell does that even make sense? Never mind, I don’t care. I’ll see you when we land. I totally hate you.” He wanted to scream.

  
He turned to Simmons, he never seen that look on his face before. It bordered between rage and despair. He wasn’t sure if he would get punched or divorced. Grif was scared, he really fucked up this time.

  
“Uh, do you want to end this vacation?” Simmons’ frown deepened. “How about our marriage?”

  
“Don’t tempt me on that. I thought this was a second honeymoon. I thought you wanted to spend time with me. I thought you loved me.” His heart was really broken this time.

  
“You know the answer is ‘yes’ to all of those.”

  
“So you only wanted me to go with you because you didn’t have the courage to face your Mom all by yourself?”

  
“No, not exactly.” He looked down at the floor. “I needed you with me, I couldn’t do this on my own. We’re a team, we need to stick together.”

  
“You’ve done some pretty horrible things to me over the years, but this is the worst.” Simmons’ face softened a little bit. “Why didn’t you just tell me the truth? Maybe I would have understood.”

  
“I wanted to, I tried to. First we were fussing with the kids the last couple of days and then you got air sick.” He hesitated. “The real reason was I was afraid you’d say no. I needed someone beside me that loved me because my parents always hated me.”

  
“I love you, I would stand by you against anything. But you have this selfish nature, sometimes I think you only care about yourself.”

  
“No way, that’s not true. I would do anything for you and the kids. What if the role was reversed, what if we visited your father? Could you do that alone?”

  
Simmons shuddered at the thought. He never wanted to see his father again, he didn’t think he would even see him. Simmons had been a big disappointment to him his whole life. After marrying a man and having three kids with his husband, his father pretty much gave up on him. Simmons preferred it that way.

  
“You can’t compare your mother to my father.”

  
“Why not?” Grif felt Simmons was making it up as he went along.

  
“Because I said so. You’re the one who is in trouble right now. I’m still very upset with you.”

He was fighting to keep up his anger. Grif was relieved, Simmons never did stay mad long. He had to press his luck.

  
“So are we okay here?”

  
Simmons sighed, his big green eyes looked so sad. “I will forgive you, but I won’t forget it. At least not for a long time. I’m still VERY pissed at you.”

  
Grif could handle that, Simmons was always mad at him. He got brave and pulled his husband to him. “If it’s worth anything, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt to you, I just don’t think plans out very well.”

  
Simmons wouldn’t answer, but he let Grif hold him. That was sort of a good sign. He hated that sadness that he saw in Simmons’ eyes. He wanted him to be happy.

  
Grif didn’t know how, but at some point in the next week, he vowed he would make up for that. Simmons deserved it.


	8. Chapter 8

 

Tucker looked around at the three sad faces of the Grif-Simmons kids. He felt so bad them. He had to cheer these kids up.

  
“C’mon guys, it’s it that bad. You’ve got Uncle Tucker here, the world’s coolest babysitter. What would you three like to do?”

  
Dex perked up. “Video games.”

  
Mira shook her head. “Legos.”

  
Jacob was still sniffling. “The computer.”

  
“Well…that’s a variety. We have all week long, we’ll get to all of it. Chloe, you have the deciding vote, what do we do first?”

  
She gave an evil grin. “Video games so I can beat Dex.” Poor Dex looked worried. Chloe always won at video games. Actually, she won at all games.

  
“Alright then, video games it is.”   
Wash watched silently from the doorway. He wanted to let Tucker have control, but he didn’t know what he was doing.

  
“Ah Tucker, are you sure that’s the best choice? It’s a nice day out. Shouldn’t the kids go outside to play and save the video games for later tonight?”

  
“Are you sure babe?, they really want to play with the X-Box. We can go outside after lunch. And I am in charge here.” He was trying not to be irritated about it.

  
“I know you are hon, I’m not undermining you. You should pick something that all the kids can play. David is still too young, he won’t have very much fun.”

  
Tucker looked down at his young son’s innocent face. He felt guilty, David was too young for a lot of the games the older kids could play. He was often left out of playtime altogether. It always hurt his feelings.

  
“Okay, sorry guys, new rule. David, What would you like to play?”

  
David thought about it. “How about catch Daddy?” Tucker just recently bought him a blue beach ball and was teaching him to play catch.

  
“Catch it is then honey. Everyone, let’s go outside.”

  
Mira pouted. “But I don’t wanna go outside, I wanna play with the Legos.” She huffed loudly and flopped down on the couch. She made it clear that she wasn’t moving if she didn’t want to.

  
Now Tucker had to reason with a stubborn four year old. “Mira, why don’t you want to play?”

  
“Cause I don’t.”

  
She wanted to play catch, but she couldn’t and she didn’t want to have to explain it. She loved her Uncle Tucker, but he didn’t know what it was like to allergic to almost everything outside. Her asthma problems held her back from a lot of things she wanted to do.

  
“Please, if you come out and join us, I promise you we can all come in and play with the Legos later on for you. Is it a deal?”

  
She sighed melodramatically and looked bored. “Fine, I’ll go play your little baby game.”

  
She stalked out the door. Even if she gave him attitude, she did what he wanted her to do. He would call that a win for the World’s Best Babysitter.

  
He looked back at Wash. The look of approval was clear on his face, it did count. Tucker forgot about getting upset with him earlier. Tucker was a total pro. He waved at Wash and blew him a kiss before joining the kids.

  
Wash knew the kids were in good hands with Tucker. Since this was his vacation too, he settled with a book on the couch. He may as well enjoy the peacefulness.

Turns out the quiet didn’t last long.   
The back door flung open and Mira came running in, she was half crying.

  
She was in a panic looking around on the kitchen counters for something. Wash went to see if he could help.

  
“Do you need me to help you find something?”

  
She was gasping and wheezing. “Daddy said he left my inhaler in the kitchen for me. I can’t find it.”

  
“Right Over here sweetie. Are you having an asthma attack?”

  
She breathed in through her inhaler a few times and nodded. “A little one. I knew it was coming, I’m allergic to the cut grass outside. That’s why I didn’t wanna go out.”

  
Wash nodded. “Yeah, Tucker mowed the lawn yesterday. I’m sorry, it was all my idea.”

  
Mira shrugged, she was used to her asthma and allergies by now. Tucker came in a few seconds later, looking concerned.

  
“Are you feeling okay? You scared me out there.”

  
She nodded. “Yeah, I’m allergic to the cut grass, that gives me asthma attacks.”

  
“Aww I’m sorry Mira. Why didn’t tell me earlier instead of throwing a temper tantrum?”

  
“I don’t know. I don’t like admitting I’m sick.”

  
“Just do me a favor honey, the next time this happens, tell me. I can help you, it’s teamwork, not weakness. You don’t have to throw any more tantrums, I’ll listen to whatever bothering you, Okay.”

  
She smiled. “Okay Uncle Tucker.”

“Are you feeling better now, you wanna come back out? Poor Jakey is terrible at this game, he needs your help.”

  
She giggled, she knew how bad her twin was at all sports. “I think I better.” She went back out to try it again.

  
Wash settled back on the couch. He was determined to relax and enjoy the peace and quiet. He overestimated Tucker’s babysitting abilities. He could hear David’s ear piercing howl from the living room.

  
He went running to check. Tucker was helping David up from where he fell. He was limping in his right leg, blood ran from his skinned knee. David reached to Wash when he saw him.

  
“David, are you okay?” He pulled his little boy into his arms. Tucker looked overwhelmed and frustrated.

  
“I fell Daddy, it hurts. Make it better!” He cried into Wash’s shoulder.

  
“Aww, my poor baby. Come on, I’ll get that knee fixed up.” He gently picked him up. “Tucker, what happened?”

  
“They were playing and the game got out of hand. David ran to catch the ball and he fell on the sidewalk.”

  
Jacob looked very guilty and he had tears running down his face. Dex and Mira tried to comfort him. Wash noticed and wondered why.

  
“What’s wrong Jake, why are you crying?”

  
Jake stammered through his tears. “It’s all my fault, I threw the ball. I’m terrible at it, that’s why David fell.”

  
Tucker put his arm around him “It’s no one’s fault Jakey. That kid hurts himself all the time, that’s the way he plays. Let’s all go back in the house. We’ll play some video games to calm down.”

  
Wash took David to the bathroom so he could clean off his knee.

Mira followed him. “Can I help?”  
Wash sounded surprised. “You really want to?”

  
Mira nodded. “Dr. Grey showed me some doctor stuff cause I’m always in the hospital.”

  
“Alright then, you can help the patient.”

  
Jacob didn’t take the accident well. He hid away in his makeshift bedroom and wouldn’t come out. He didn’t want Wash to be mad at him.

  
Wash heard his crying when he finished bandaging up David’s knee. “Jake, don’t cry over it. It’s only an accident.”

  
He looked up at Wash with tears streaming down his face. “You’re not mad at me?”

  
“Of course not. Come on out and play some video games, you can play against Mira.”

  
“She’ll win. I want my Daddy, I want to go home.” He looked so miserable.

  
Wash put his arm around Jacob to lead him back to others. “I know sweetie, he’ll be back. You’ll be fine.”

  
Tucker looked up and welcomed Jacob back to the group. He cuddled Jacob close to him while they watched Dex and Chloe games. Jacob calmed down a little.

  
Tucker was worn out. Not even one day in, and he was ready to call it quits.  



	9. Chapter 9

 

It was late evening when the shuttle reached the Hawaiian islands. Grif pressed his face to the window, squinting to see when he could make out the island of Honolulu.

  
Simmons didn’t dare leave his seat. His airsickness was coming back and he was scared of heights as it was. His body couldn’t take the combination of the two.

  
Grif figured he should at least clue Simmons in on what he was missing.

“Hey, we made it, I see the island. It’s too bad you can’t look, the view is incredible. This island looks better flying over it then it did when I lived on it.”

  
It was the first real conversation either one had made for a while. Grif hoped to get Simmons out of his sulky, bitchy mood. Maybe he would actually enjoy himself.

  
The shuttle landed at the airport and they were allowed to leave. Grif reached over and took Simmons’ hand.

It was at least a small attempt to try to make up with him. He shot Grif a nasty look, but he didn’t force his hand away.

  
Right off the shuttle, Grif heard Kaikaiana’s big mouth calling to him. “Hey big bro, long time no see.” She was waving like crazy.

  
That wasn’t the only voice he heard. The short woman standing beside Kai was a sight he hadn’t seen in years. She obviously had some liposuction and electrolysis done over the years. Her makeup was applied so heavily, she was trying to hide her age. Her long, curly black hair looked recently colored to hide some of the grey that was still streaking through her hair.

  
She looked different, but it was still Leilani Grif. The mother who never wanted Grif, and thought it was perfectly fine to skip out on her kids to follow her then new boyfriend.

The sight of her brought tears to his eyes. He wanted to see her but didn’t want to see her all at the same time. He kept a grip on Simmons’ hand, he was too afraid to let go.

  
Simmons was still mad at him, but he could tell what pain Grif was going through. He understood and gave Grif’s hand an encouraging squeeze. He was trying to give his husband the strength to get through this.

  
A big smile lit up Leilani’s round, chubby face when she saw her son. “Dexter, oh my god, it’s been forever. Come here and gimme a hug! Momma’s so happy to see you!”

  
Simmons knew where Kai got her personality from. Leilani was built like Grif and acted like Kai. Suddenly, the family all made sense.

  
Grif stiffly went near his mother. He was quiet, Simmons never seen him act like this. Even as reluctantly hugged her, he still couldn’t let go of Simmons’ hand. It was an awkward hug.

  
To Simmons’ dismay, she turned her attention to him. “Aww, this must be Richard. Dexter, you know how to pick them. He’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen!”

  
Kai chimed in to make his misery worse. “I know, right? He’s so totally hot. I’ve said it for years.”

  
His face turned bright red and spread to even the tips of his ears. He wanted off this damn island. “Uhh, y…es, Uh Mrs. Grif.” Damn, he hated attention from women, especially these two.

  
Leilani smacked him on the arm. “Now none of this formal talk, we’re family. I’m Leilani, hell you can call me Mom.”

She gave him a big hug that nearly broke his ribs. Grif better appreciate what he was going through for him.

  
Grif was recovered enough to give him an amused look. He started picking up the suitcases. It was amazing how being trouble with Simmons got him more motivated to do stuff. His arms were full and he was dropping the luggage. Simmons reached over to lend a hand.

  
“Oh that’s so sweet, they’re such love birds. First they’re holding hands, now they’re helping each other out. I wish your father and I could have worked out that well.”

  
Grif turned to her. “Has Dad been around, has he ever asked about me?”

  
His mother shrugged. “Not to me he hadn’t. We hadn’t spoken in years. I don’t think he even lives on the island anymore. What he thinks isn’t important anyway.”

  
Grif gave a strained look. Though either of his parents would make it as parents of the year, his mother was a lot better than his father was.

He never hit his wife or kids, but he sure would scream at them. That’s how Grif learned how to hide away, he hid from his problems.

  
His mother was unusually sympathetic. She put her hand on his shoulder as she led them to her beige SUV. Grif and Simmons loaded their luggage in the trunk and they climbed in the backseat.

He would leave Kai up front near their mother. She had a lot less bad memories to try to repress than he did.

  
She tried to glance back at them and drive at the same, she was making Simmons nervous. “So Richard, you’re in the IT department in the military?”

  
“Actually I go by the nickname Dick, and yes I’ve been full time IT since the kids were born.”

  
“Oww, I hope to see some pictures of my grandkids. I can’t wait until I can meet them.”

  
“Don’t worry Mom, between the two of us, we only have a thousand photos of them on our phones.” Grif was agitated, if she really wanted to meet the kids, why the hell didn’t she come?

  
“Oh Mom, they are the cutest kids, I love em. Their little girl, Mira’s middle name is Kai, after me. And the little boys are so smart. I wished I had three like them.”

  
“It’s a shame you couldn’t bring them. They would have liked it here. We could have a nice family visit.” She had an edge to her voice.

  
“Or you could have came to Chorus and visit with them. They’re only six and four, and Mira has health issues. We can’t travel that far with them.” The edge in Grif’s voice matched hers.

  
Simmons felt he should be the peace maker. “It’s a lot easier to fly from Earth to Chorus now, I’m sure we could arrange another trip. The kids should really see Earth.”

  
Grif shot him a look, who’s side was he on? This was already the trip from hell and it only started. Talking about the kids got him choked up, he wished he was at home with them.

  
“Well Dexter, this week we got some things we need to talk about, my grandkids will be one of those topics. I owe you a lot…I know that. I hope you won’t be sorry you came down here, I hope you won’t hate me anymore…” Her voice sounded so sad.

  
Grif didn’t want to hate her, but he couldn’t forgive her either. He didn’t know anything anymore.  
  



	10. Chapter 10

 

The kids spent the afternoon happily playing their video games. Tucker couldn’t help but gloat. He knew that was a good idea from the start. Jacob calmed down and enjoyed himself. He couldn’t play the games, but he liked watching Dex and Chloe go at it.

  
Tucker made a spot on the couch so David could prop his knee up with an ice pack. He was still sniffling over it, he really wanted Wash to take care of him, but he got over it. He laid his head on Tucker’s lap and watched the games with amazement.

  
“Okay, Dex and Chloe, it’s Mira’s turn to play. Jake, you wanna give it a shot?”

  
Jacob frantically shook his head. “No, I’ll be terrible at it.”

  
“C’mon Jake, play with me. You can do it.”

  
Dex handed him the controller. “Yeah Jake, I’ll help you with it.”

  
Tucker thought it was sweet how well those three got along. He checked the time, he should really start on dinner. The kids were distracted, he could slip away.

  
He got out the large frying pan and a package of hamburger. He figured it was a safe choice, there wasn’t much else that he could cook. He had a bag of frozen French fries. Dinner would be easy.

  
Wash was coming in to start cooking, but seen Tucker had it handled. “Wow, thanks hon. What are making?”

  
“I thought I’d keep it simple with burgers and fries.”

  
“Good choice, though are you sure all the kids like that?”

  
Tucker looked confused, he probably should have checked. “Of course they like it, they’re Grif’s kids. He’s all about junk food.”

  
Wash was doubtful. “Well, they’re also Simmons’ kids and you know how he feels about junk food. I wish you would have double checked before starting those.”

  
Tucker was trying to not get upset. Wash acted like he didn’t know anything. He slammed the spatula down on the counter.

  
“You keep treating me like I’m one of the kids, let me do this my way damnit. I was right about their playtime earlier, and I’m right about mealtime too, so there. You don’t know everything.”

  
“I’ll stop treating you like the kids when you stop acting like one. I only asked you a question. You really want to be in charge, you got it.” He stalked off to their bedroom and slammed the door.

  
Shit, a pissed off husband was all Tucker needed. Oh well, Wash will have to get over it. The burgers were almost done and the fries were getting crisp in the oven.

  
Tucker poked his head in the living room. “Dinner’s almost done guys, wrap up that game and you play some more later.”

  
He carried David in and settled him in his chair. “Where’s Daddy?”

  
“He’s not hungry, so he’s staying in his room.”

  
Chloe looked critical. “You two have another fight?”

  
“No we didn’t.” She still looked at him. “Shut up and eat.”

  
As Tucker predicted all the kids loved the burgers; except one. Jacob picked at his dinner, but didn’t really eat much of it.

  
Tucker noticed. “Are you Okay Jake? Is the food alright?”

  
Jacob nodded, he was too polite to tell Tucker he didn’t care for hamburgers. “Yes Uncle Tucker. Your burgers are good.” But he continued to just pick at it.

  
Mira spoke up for him. She was never shy about telling the truth. “The burgers are good, Jake usually doesn’t like hamburgers. He only eats them when he has to.”

  
“Aww, I’m sorry Jakey, I didn’t know that. Is there anything that you do want for dinner? I’ll fix you anything you want; within reason, I suck at cooking.”

  
“No it’s okay, I’ll eat my dinner.” He could tell Jacob was forcing it down.

  
Dex had to laugh. “Jake won’t even eat the treats from Dad’s snack drawer. Mira and I do.”

  
“A kid of Grif’s that doesn’t like junk food?” Tucker couldn’t believe it.

  
Jacob shrugged and laughed. “I think it’s gross.”

  
The phone rang, Tucker went to get it. “Hey Simmons, Yeah the kids are here. I think they’ll want to talk to you.”

  
Mira jumped up from the table first and ran into the living room. When she came back, Dex took his turn. Jacob had tears running down his face before even talking to his Dad. Tucker put his hand on his shoulder for support.

  
Finally, Jacob went running out. Tucker started cleaning up the plates to put in the dishwasher. He went to check on Jacob. He ended his phone with crying for his Dad. Tucker hung up the phone and tried not to worry about him.

  
“Alrightee, you guys have a little more video game time, then it’s bedtime.”

  
The kids and Tucker lost track of time. “Holy crap, it’s past everybody’s bedtime. I’m gonna get David ready for bed, then it’s Jake and Mira’s turn.”

  
He was worn out rushing around to get all the kids their baths, teeth brushed, and pajamas on. He hoped he still had a bedroom to go for himself.

  
He knocked lightly on the door. He heard Wash give a loud sigh before opening it. “What?”

  
“If I’m sorry, do I still get to sleep in here tonight?”

  
Wash gave him a disgusted glare before giving in. “Yes, I suppose so.”

  
“Thank you babe.”

  
“I’m not talking to you though, so save it.”

  
Tucker climbed into bed and turned off the light. “Goodnight?” He was half afraid to talk to Wash.

  
Wash huffed. “Good night.”

  
Tucker was careful not to talk to him again until he got out of his mood. They were almost asleep, there was a tiny knock at the door.

Tucker sat up. “Yeah.”

  
Jacob peeked in, tears ran down his face. “I can’t sleep, I want my Daddy”

  
“Oh honey, it’ll be fine. C’mon, let me help me you back to bed.” He led him back to David’s room.

  
Dex was awake and looking concerned for his brother. “Jake, I’m right here beside you, why are you scared?”

  
Jacob wouldn’t lay down. “No, I want my Daddy!” He was crying harder.

  
“What about if you stay with your sister?” He shook his head violently. “You won’t stay with your brother?” He shook his head again.

  
Tucker picked him up to comfort him. “Okay, let’s take a walk together, you’ll calm down soon. Dex, go ahead back to bed. I’ll take care of him.”

  
Tucker walked with him all over the house. Jacob had threw his arms around Tucker and wept. He turned on the porch light and walked him around the yard a little bit .

Jacob still wouldn’t relax. Tucker sat with him in the recliner and was ready to give up, this kid wouldn’t sleep.

  
Wash’s curiosity got to him, he went to check on them. “I know you don’t want my help, but you need it.”

  
Tucker was ready to admit defeat. “Yeah, you try. He only wants Simmons.”

  
Wash cuddled Jacob on his lap. The poor kid was so worn out, his eyes starting closing. He clung to Wash and wouldn’t let go.

  
“I’m going to let him sleep with me tonight. He’s been through a lot today.”

  
Wash carried Jacob back to the bedroom and settled him on Tucker’s side of the bed. Tucker followed. “Hey, where am I supposed to sleep?”

  
Wash threw him a blanket. “Go sleep on the couch. After that attitude problem of yours earlier, that’s what you deserve.”

  
Tucker hung his head, and settled on the couch. This was only the first day…he was so ready to give up.

  
He was exhausted, he passed out the moment his head hit the pillow.

 


	11. Chapter 11

 

Simmons hung up the phone and wiped away his tears. Grif came in and put a hand on his shoulder. “Let me guess, you called the kids?”

  
He nodded miserably. “Yes, I couldn’t rest until I checked in with them.” He sat there staring at the phone, wishing he was at home with his kids.

  
Grif gave him a little hug. “If it helps, tomorrow you can call them again and we can both have time to actually talk to them. I miss them too.” He buried his face in Simmons’ red curls and tried not to cry himself.

  
Simmons broke away from his embrace. He wasn’t ready to forgive Grif yet. “Your Mom said she was taking us out for dinner, I guess I should get ready.”

  
Grif sighed. “It better not be anything fancy, I ain’t dressing up. This is as ready as I plan on being.”

  
“Then go as a slob, I don’t care.”

Grif gave him a sad look. Simmons felt bad, Grif had been a jerk, but really what else would Simmons expect out of him? He knew what Grif was like, and he married anyway.

  
Grif tried fixing up his thick curly hair. It was always a lost cause. He sighed, and gave up. He wouldn’t mind just once to look nice for his husband. He pulled his hair back, this is what he looked like, take it or leave it.

  
He checked the bedroom to see if Simmons was ready yet. He was putting the finishing touches on his outfit, looking as pristine as ever. He wore a burgundy button down dress shirt and khaki pants. His hair always stayed in place. Grif was jealous of that.

  
He endlessly teased Simmons over being a total nerd, but he secretly loved the way he looked and dressed. Simmons stepped out of the bedroom and almost ran into Grif.

  
“Oh there you are, I wondered if you were ready yet.” Grif looked closer at Simmons’ outfit. The color of his shirt reminded him of Simmons’ armor. It brought up so many memories. “You’re wearing that outfit?”

  
Simmons took it as an insult. “Yes, what’s wrong with it? Your Mother said it was a casual restaurant.” He looked over Grif’s outfit. “ I look better than you do.”

  
He and Simmons insulted each other all the time, but the way he said that was a stab at Grif’s heart. He had on a plain black t-shirt and jean shorts. He knew how he looked, he just think anyone would care.

  
Grif couldn’t look his husband in the face. “I think you look nice. You always do.”

  
Simmons was shocked, he waited for the punchline, this had to be a joke. No, Grif was serious.

“Oh, thank you.” He slowed down his pace to walk beside him. “I’m sorry about that crack about your outfit. I always like seeing look sloppy like this.”

  
They walked hand in hand to wait for The girls. Kai came out first. She had on super tight black jeans, and a silver crop top, so small it barely covered her chest. She had a hoop in her pierced navel. Her makeup was applied so heavily it didn’t look real. Her stiletto heels were so high, she was almost as tall as Simmons.

  
Leilani came in only slightly better dressed. She wore the brightest Hawaiian style dress, you could see the colors a mile away. Her heels were so high, she could barely walk in them and her makeup was as bad as Kai’s.

  
Simmons was too embarrassed to be seen with any of them. This was going to be the dinner from hell.

  
Leilani grabbed her purse and keys. “Next stop,The Terrace Grill.” They pulled up to the restaurant. They were in luck, it was very crowded. “Hope you all brought your appetites, this is an all you can eat buffet. We can eat outside on the terrace.”

  
Grif chuckled, hopefully his mother remembered how much he can eat. “Well I hope they stocked enough food at that buffet, this is gonna cost them a fortune.”

  
Kai smacked him on the arm. “You better hope you get there first, I’ll challenge you.”

  
“Challenge accepted.” They literally ran to see who grabbed their plate first. Simmons didn’t want to be seen with them. Grif filled up his plate with steak and mashed potatoes. Simmons started on a salad.

  
He looked at Grif’s plate with disgust as he lathered everything in gravy. “Gross, why don’t eat some vegetables?”

  
“Eww, I’m not wasting room on my plate with vegetables.”

Simmons shook his head, it was a lost cause.

  
There wasn’t enough room to eat on the terrace, but Grif found a nice table near the buffet table. That’s exactly where he wanted to be.

  
He made four trips back and forth. He and Kai dared each other to eat hot wings, and by the end of the night, they were almost drunk from the beer they drank.

All Simmons wanted was some sushi and he sipped at an iced tea through the night.

  
He noticed Grif’s mom only drank soda. He expected her to down beer or alcohol like Grif and Kai.

  
It was like she could read his mind. She casually mentioned. “I’ve been sober for ten years now. I used to drink worse than Kai does.”

  
Huh, he still thought she was a maniac, but he had a new respect for her. After dinner, she included everyone in deserts, which he could hardly finish.

  
The trip home was something. Grif was buzzed from all the beer and Kai was flat out drunk. Simmons sat in the front passenger seat, it was safer.

Grif and Kai were loud and obnoxious the whole way home. Simmons buried his face in his hands and tried to tune them out. He hated seeing his husband act like this.

  
At home, he took Grif’s arm. “Come on, I’ll help you up to bed.”

  
“Nah honey, I don’t need any help.” Grif walked straight into the closet door.

  
“Yeah, sure you don’t.” He shoved Grif in the right direction of their room and guided to him to the bed. “I’m going to take a shower. Can you get ready for bed on your own?”

  
“Of course I can, I’m not drunk, just tired. I’ll wait up for you.”

  
When Simmons came out to go to bed, Grif was passed out on the bed. He still had his clothes and shoes on. It was like taking care of one of the kids. He slipped off his shoes, rolled him to his usual side of the bed and covered him up.

  
Simmons slipped in beside him, he was so exhausted, he would have no trouble sleeping in a strange bed. He looked over at his snoring husband, some second honeymoon this turned out to be. Their first honeymoon was a complete disaster, why would this one be any different?

  
Simmons wished he could flag down the shuttle and go home to be with his kids.


	12. Chapter 12

 

Wash was up early. He had sleep issues from his PTSD, made worse by the fact that Tucker wasn’t beside him. He felt safer sleeping knowing that his husband was beside him.

  
For a little kid, Jacob was hard to bunk with. He tossed and turned and kept stealing the covers. As Wash was dozing off, Jacob starting snoring. How could someone so quiet be this noisy at night? Wash was finally seeing the resemblance to Grif.

  
By six am, he gave up and figured he would make some coffee. David always woke up early, Wash liked to already be awake by the time he did.

  
He felt a twinge of guilt when he walked past the couch. He hated fighting with Tucker, but this time he deserved it.

He saw that most of his blanket slipped off him in the middle of the night. Wash carefully covered him back up. Tucker stirred, but didn’t wake up. Wash couldn’t resist giving him a little kiss. He was mad at him, but he still loved him.

  
He started some coffee and checked out by the porch for the Sunday paper. He wondered what activities Tucker planned for the kids. Wash already decided that whatever it was, he was shutting his mouth and let Tucker worry about it.

  
As Wash predicted, David was waking up. He left the kitchen so he could help him get dressed before he woke up the entire house. He never was a quiet child.

  
“Morning Daddy!”

  
“Shh, morning buddy. It’s early, don’t wake everyone up.”

  
Dex groaned and lifted his head from under his blanket. “Morning Uncle Wash.” His black, curly hair was a mess.

  
“Morning Dex, sorry if David woke you up.”

  
“That’s okay, I’m up.”

  
David went running into the living room. Seeing Tucker on the couch, he gave a big leap and jumped up on him. Tucker went from almost awake to completely awake.

  
“Morning Daddy!” He giggled.

  
Tucker put his arm around him and yawned. “Morning little dude.”

  
Chloe came out in her robe and slippers, she was headed for the kitchen. She saw her Dad was sleeping on the couch, she couldn’t help it. “See I knew it, you and Daddy had a fight.” She chuckled over it.

  
David looked worried. “I don’t like it when you fight.” He looked like he would cry.

  
“No we didn’t have a fight, well sorta. Jake got homesick last night, he stayed with your dad, and I came out up the couch. That’s all, case closed.”

  
“Uh-Huh.” She grinned and went to get herself and David a glass a juice.

  
Wash came out and he stiffened when he saw Tucker was awake. “Hi.” He wasn’t ready to forgive him, but at least he was trying to be friendly.

  
“Hi.” He gave Wash one of his incredible smiles. “Are we Okay…?”

  
Wash gave a relieved smile. “Yeah, it’s fine.”

  
“Was I dreaming, or did you kiss me earlier?”

  
Wash just shrugged, let Tucker wonder. They were interrupted by their kids. They heard a crash and Chloe yelled. “David, be careful.” Then David started crying.

  
Tucker groaned. “I got this babe. I’ll clean up the mess, put the kids up for adoption and we can have some peace and quiet.”

  
Chloe stalked out of the kitchen and walked past Wash. “It’s not my fault, I tried to stop him.”

  
“What did he do?”

  
“Dropped the whole container of orange juice on the floor. I told him it was too heavy.”

  
Wash sighed. “Alright, can you check on the twins for me? I’ll check on your brother.” Chloe nodded and went to wake Mira up.

  
Tucker was trying to clean up the spilled juice and console his son at the same time. Wash knelt down to pick David up so Tucker could clean.

“Thanks babe, I needed an extra hand.”

  
“I see that, we’ll get out of your way.” He turned to David. “ How did you spill that juice?”

  
David was still crying. “Chloe was being mean. She said I can’t lift it.”

  
Tucker was tired from cleaning up the mess. “Well, she was right.”

  
David cried harder. Wash had to cheer him up. “Come help me make sure the big kids are all up.”

  
His tears slowed down, it felt like an important job. “Okay!”

  
Jacob and Dex came out. They were all dressed. Jacob hid behind Dex, he looked embarrassed over getting homesick last night . Wash understood. “You feeling better Jake?”

  
He shrugged. “ I can’t find my glasses.”

  
“I put your glasses up so David wouldn’t get them. Here they are.” Jacob put them on.

  
David wanted to watch some cartoons and Dex joined him. Tucker finished cleaning the floor and flopped down with the kids. “Oh cool, an old Bugs Bunny cartoon. Haven’t watched these in ages.”

  
Jacob went to the girl’s room to visit Mira, within minutes he ran back to the couch. He looked scared. He made Tucker panic. “Now what’s wrong?”

  
“The girls are being scary. They tried to put makeup on me. I got out of there fast.” He sat beside Dex for protection.

  
“Yeah, I thought it seemed too quiet. I’ll check it out.” Tucker got up stiffly to see what new disaster waited for him. Wash followed behind him.

  
Chloe looked up. “Hi Daddy, wanna be next in my beauty salon? Mira loves it.”

  
Mira was giggling. “This is fun.” She had her wild curly hair braided back into pigtails; that looked cute. But the makeup…she looked ready for the circus.

  
Tucker couldn’t help but laugh. “No thanks honey, I look good enough without makeup, but why did you dress up Mira?”

  
“Cause she wanted me too.”

  
Wash tried not interfere, but he had to give his opinion. “Simmons is going to kill all of us if he sees his daughter looking like that.”

  
“Nah, he complains she isn’t girlie enough, there she proved she is. Girls, hold off the makeup. The hair looks cute Chloe, you did a good job there. Clean up this mess, both of you. Breakfast is in a few minutes.”

  
Out in the hallway, Tucker over dramatically leaned against Wash. “Is it too early for nap time? I ain’t gonna make it.”

  
Wash gave him a look. “You can have help if you want it.”

  
Tucker straightened up. “Nope, I’m good, I don’t need it.”

  
Wash shook his head. Tucker needed help, and he couldn’t wait to be there when he finally broke down and admitted it.

 


	13. Chapter 13

 

Simmons was jostled awake in the middle of the night. Grif was tossing and turning like crazy. He nearly elbowed Simmons right in the face.

He cried out so loud that he woke himself up. He woke up to see his husband trying to pin his arms down and looking all worried.

  
“Huh, what’s going on?” Grif was trying to wake up.

  
Simmons let go of him. “Are you trying to kill me? What the hell were you dreaming about?”

  
Grif still looked confused. “I don’t even remember. Ugh… oh god, I’m gonna be sick.” He ran for the bathroom, barely making it in time.

  
Simmons sighed and reluctantly got out of bed. He held back Grif’s hair as he wretched. He checked the medicine cupboard, there was a bottle of Pepto, that would help Grif’s stomach.

He made a face as he swallowed the pink medicine. Simmons got him some water and led him back to bed.

  
“You see, I told you the hot wings and beer was a bad combination.”

  
Grif groaned as he laid down. “Yeah man, I’m agreeing with you.”

  
Simmons leaned against his pillow, stroking back Grif’s tousled hair, trying to help him feel better. Grif laid his head in Simmons’ lap, wishing this feeling would go away. “Oh, it feels like the room’s spinning.”

  
“Just take deep breaths and relax. It will stop soon.” He kept stroking Grif’s hair until he feel back asleep. When he was snoring peacefully, Simmons fought to fall back to sleep.

  
They slept until noon. Simmons was so stiff, he had to move and he woke up Grif. “Wow its late, we better get up.” Grif groaned and wanted to fall back asleep.

  
By the time Simmons brushed his teeth and dressed in a t-shirt and shorts, Grif was still lounging in bed.

“I ain’t getting up, bring my breakfast up to me sweetie.”

  
Simmons scoffed and smacked him in the arm. “No way, get your lazy, fat ass out of bed and get it yourself. After what all you ate last night, you shouldn’t be hungry.”

  
“Oh please, last night was like an appetizer. I would never pass up a meal.” He struggled to get out of bed. “Wait for me to get ready, will you though?”

  
He sounded serious, so Simmons nodded. As he changed his clothes, he looked a little nervous. “Would you like to hang out at the beach with me today? The swimming here is great. It’s not usually crowded.”

  
He was worried Simmons would say no and they wouldn’t be able to spend anytime together.  
Simmons frowned, trying to figure out why Grif seemed so worried over something like that.

“Yeah sure.” He thought about it. “Wait, no I can’t. I forgot my sunscreen. I’ll burn like crazy.”

  
Grif was so disappointed. “Seriously, how much more of a loser could you be? Everything’s been all for the kids. For once, can’t you just want to spend time with me?”

  
He looked at Simmons, his big brown looked so sad. He wanted to spend time with his husband more than anything else.

  
This was against Simmons’ better judgement. “Alright, I’ll go with you. But only for a little bit. It doesn’t take much sun for me to get burnt.”

  
Grif felt better. He felt stupid that it was so hard for him to ask his own husband out for a date. Simmons was special to him, he always had been. They walked out to the kitchen together.

  
Turns out, Grif didn’t have to worry about breakfast, his Mom had it covered. She had plenty of pancakes and sausage waiting for him. Kai was in worse shape than Grif was, she wasn’t even up yet.

  
“What are your plans for the day boys? How about some sightseeing with me and Kai?”

  
“No way, we gotta date on the beach.”

  
“Oh that sounds like fun, I’ll get my bathing suit.”

  
“Mom no, it’s only for the two of us. You’re not invited.”

  
She got huffy and sarcastic like Grif does. “Well fine, I don’t want to go anyway. I still have Kai.”

  
Grif rolled his eyes at her spectacle. Simmons was amazed. It was like being around another Grif, he didn’t know it was possible.

  
He whispered to Simmons. “Let’s hurry up and get out oh here before Kai tries to tag along.”

  
The beach was only a short walk down the road, Simmons was amazed Grif would walk that far. It was great, like Grif thought, they practically had the beach to themselves.

  
“Let’s hit some of those waves.”He waded into ocean. That surprised Simmons, he never knew Grif to want to do…well anything.”

  
“Hey, I don’t think this is a good idea. You know how they say you shouldn’t go swimming after eating. Especially after how much you ate, you’ll cramp up. You could drown.”

  
Grif turned around. “Oh brother, that’s a bunch of bullshit. Quit being a whiny little nerd and c’mon.”

  
Simmons flinched. He didn’t want to go into that water. Who knew what kind of little creatures were waiting for him? Worse yet, there could be syringes, garbage, body parts…his mind congered up every worst case scenario. The ocean could be a dangerous place.

“No thanks, I’m good here.”

  
Grif seen he needed a distraction to get his chicken husband to join him. He knew what to do.

“Ouch, Simmons help, you were right. Oh these cramps hurt, I can’t swim, help me.” He made sure to hold enough breath to stay underwater as long as it took to get Simmons to move.

  
“Grif, stop fooling around. I know it’s a trick, I’m not coming in that infested water. Grif!”

  
He was underwater for a while; for too long, what if it wasn’t a trick? “Damn you, I really hate you for this.”

Simmons charged into the dreaded water to get him.   
He found him pretty quickly, he was very still. Simmons got scared, he grabbed ahold of him and dragged him to the beach.

“Oh god, you weigh a ton. If you survive this, you’re going on a diet.”

  
He checked to see if Grif was breathing. He couldn’t tell, so he started mouth to mouth resuscitation just in case.

He put his lips on Grif’s, all of sudden, Grif started kissing him harder than he ever had before. He wanted to yell at him, but he returned Grif’s kiss.

  
When Simmons could catch his breath, he muttered. “You are such a jerk.”

  
Grif had a cocky grin. “I know, and you know that’s why you love me, ya nerd.” Grif tried to pull him closer, but they were interrupted. Up above on the beach we’re some people walking.

  
Grif mumbled. “You gotta be kidding me, this place is always deserted.”

  
Simmons got up and tried to brush off the wet sand. “Let’s forget about it and go back.”

  
He tried to fight back his tears. All he wanted was a honeymoon alone with his husband.  
  



	14. Chapter 14

 

  
Tucker managed to get all five kids to sit and eat their cereal. “Sorry there’s no more orange juice.”

He shot a look to David, who smiled sweetly at him. “At least we have plenty of milk.”

  
He leaned against the counter downing a cup of coffee. This was going to be the day for it.

David was having more fun playing with his cereal than eating it. It wasn’t so much Grif and Simmons’ kids, it was his own kids driving him crazy.

  
“Eww, David quit throwing cereal, it’s all sticky.” Chloe was going all drama queen on her little brother.

Mira was laughing about it, that was encouraging David to keep playing.

  
Tucker went over and picked him up. “No way dude, you’re done.” He took the bowl of cereal to the sink. “Chloe, that little bit of cereal is not going to hurt you, so chill out.”

  
Dex helped Jacob and Mira clean up their cereal bowls to help out Tucker. “Thanks guys. Dex, you are the best big brother.”

  
Dex’s face turned pink as he smiled and shrugged. “Uncle Tucker, can we play with the Legos I brought later?”

  
Tucker thought. “Hmm, Yeah. We gotta keep an eye on David, he’s still too young to play with them. Last time he almost swallowed one of Chloe’s Legos. He thought it looked like candy. I’ll keep him entertained.”

  
Wash came out, he slipped his wallet in his pocket and started for the back door. “Hon, I’m going to the store real quick to grab a few things. I’ll make sure I pick up some juice while I’m out. You okay with the kids?”

  
Tucker shot him a look. “You know I am.”

  
“Okay, I’ll be back soon.”

  
David went running towards him. “Daddy, I wanna go too.”

  
“No honey, stay here with Daddy, I won’t be gone long.”

  
David pouted and was on the verge of crying. Wash usually took his son everywhere with him, David hated being separated. Tucker had to distract him.

  
“The big kids are gonna build stuff with the Legos. When they finish building , you can play with what they make.”

  
David stopped crying. “Wow, I can play too?”

  
Dex felt bad about David being too young to play with them. He was used to having Mira trying to take over his toys. “We’ll build you a city, and you can play on it with your toy cars.”

  
“Okay, I’ll get out my best ones!”

  
That did the trick to distract David. “Thanks Dex, I owe you one. You kids can go ahead and play. I’ll finish with cleaning up the kitchen.”

  
Tucker finished washing up the cereal bowls to put back in the cupboard. He heard Chloe yell at David.

“David come on, get out of the way. You have to wait until we’re done building.”

  
Tucker sighed, he’d have to figure out how to keep David out the way. He wasn’t particularly in a hurry. He knew Chloe and Dex would keep an eye on him.

  
Chloe started screaming. “Daddy help! David’s choking, he swallowed a lego block!”

  
Her ear piercing scream nearly stopped Tucker’s heart. Almost three years ago, they lost one baby, he couldn’t live through losing another child. He couldn’t run fast enough to the playroom.

  
David was struggling to breathe, he was turning blue. Chloe was crying hysterically. “I didn’t see him grab it.”

  
Tucker grabbed David, trying to see where the block was lodged at. He desperately tried to remember how to apply the Heimlich maneuver.

  
He was supposed to have learned it in Basic training, but he was more focused on the hot blonde cadet he loved to flirt with. He remembered her perfectly.

“Come on baby, you gotta breathe.”

  
Mira stepped in. “I know what to do. Kneel behind David with your arms around him. Make a fist above his belly button. Thrust until the block comes out.”

  
She sounded so sure of herself that Tucker trusted her. Basic training came back to him, now he remembered. He gently but firmly, applied the Heimlich, praying that it worked.

  
With tears streaming down his face, he tried to talk David through it. “Please David breathe. Don’t leave me baby.”

  
He felt so limp in Tucker’s arms, he was scared he was too late. After four thrusts, the blue block went flying out of his mouth. Tucker sighed a huge sigh of relief. He held David close to him, he couldn’t stop crying.

  
David struggled to catch his breath, the color came back to his cheeks. He looked up weakly at Tucker. “Daddy…” he tried to cry, but he couldn’t yet.

  
“Shh baby, you’ll be okay. Just keep still.” He looked over at Mira. “How in the world did you know how to do that?”

  
Her voice sounded shaky. “I spend a lot of time in the hospital because of my asthma. Dr. Grey showed it to me cause I wanna be a doctor like her one day.”

  
Tucker looked impressed. “You’re going to be awesome at it. You saved David’s life, thank you honey.”

  
All of the kids were still scared and Chloe couldn’t stop crying. Her little brother drove her crazy, but she loved him. The house wouldn’t be the same without him.

  
  
Wash came home and dropped his grocery bag on the table. As soon as he stepped through that door, he knew something was wrong.

He heard the commotion in the playroom, he went running in. Something was wrong with one of the kids, he knew it.

  
He saw Tucker holding David, both of them were crying. Wash felt like his heart stopped beating. He had lost his first son, Lucas, he couldn’t lose David too.

David cried louder, reaching for Wash. Tucker looked at him with such agony, Wash was going to hate him now.

  
Wash held David. “What happened?” He could barely get the words out.

  
Chloe was calming down. “David choked on a Lego. Mira showed Daddy how to do the Heimlich. He saved David.”

  
“Tucker! How do not already know that, we learned it in Basic. You have two young children, you need to be ready for anything.”

  
Tucker couldn’t look at him. “Yeah, I know I suck. I suck at babysitting, at being a father and a husband. You were right and I was wrong, I quit. Go ahead and divorce me and take the kids, cause I deserve it.”

  
He went to leave, pausing dramatically in case someone wanted to stop him. They didn’t, so he stalked away to the bathroom to hide.

  
Wash had enough. “Unbelievable!” He looked at Chloe. “I’ll take care of the little kids if you go calm the big one down.”

  
She nodded, she was used to her Dad’s tantrums. “Dad, you Okay?”

  
“No, don’t bother with me, I’m a lost cause.” He was sitting on the edge of the bathtub with his face in his hands.

  
She sat beside him and leaned her head against his arm. “No, remember when I was little, I had problems because of my Mom. You never gave up on me. You saved me, and you saved David today. We both love you, we both need you.”

  
“Really?”

  
“Yep.”

  
“Do you remember being with your Mom? You were only two when we got you out of there.”

  
“I remember some, I was always scared of her. You came in to get me, and I wasn’t scared of you. You gave me first teddy bear.”

  
“You still have it, don’t you?” She nodded. “So you don’t think I screwed up?”

  
She shook her head. “Nope, you love us, that’s what counts. And you’re really nice to Dex and the twins. You did a great job.”

  
He hugged her. “Thanks sweetie, you’re totally lying, but I still appreciate it. I better go apologize to Wash, come on.”

  
Wash calmed David down and settled him in for a nap. Tucker still looked scared to be near him, so Wash went over to hug him. All was forgiven, they didn’t need any words, they had that special bond together.

  
“Okay babe, you’re in charge, so what’s going on now?”

  
“No, we are taking charge together. That’s what I’ve been saying this whole time. The kids are still kind of scared. Go play with them and have some fun, that’s what this week is all about.”

  
Finally Tucker could relax, he was amazed at how much better he felt. That was what he needed, he and Wash needed to be a team.


	15. Chapter 15

 

As Grif and Simmons made it home, Simmons was aware of his face burning. Grif noticed. “Wow, you were right, you really are red.”

  
“Oh great, I told you so. I really hate you.” He ran to the bathroom to put a cool washrag on his face.

  
Kai was lounging around, half naked on the couch. She was sipping on some coffee, trying to get rid of her hangover. She was smirking over Grif getting in trouble with his husband.

  
“Trouble in paradise bro? If you get a divorce, I call dibs on your ex. Even with a sunburn, he’s still totally hot.”

  
“Dream on brat, he’s completely mine.” He put her in a headlock for a few seconds before lightly rapping her on the head.

  
She was giggling as she tried to straighten out her long black curls. “Mom said she wanted to talk to you later, so make some time. She sounded pretty serious about it.”

  
“Yeah yeah, I’ll catch her later.” That was the last thing he wanted to do. He went to follow Simmons. He found him standing in the bathroom, rummaging through the medicine cupboard.

  
He watched quietly from the doorway for a minute. It was like he was seeing Simmons in a different light. They’d been teammates on the Red Team for ages. They’d been an official couple for eight years and married for over seven years.

  
After three kids and so many memories, some horrible, most of them wonderful, why was this the first time Grif felt like he was seeing him? He had taken him for granted for so many years.

  
No matter how badly Grif fucked up, Simmons was always there for him. He couldn’t stop staring at him.

  
“Damnit, there’s no aloe Vera in here for my sunburn.” He felt Grif’s stare, he turned to look at him. “What is your problem?”

  
Grif shook off his daydreaming and came back to reality. “Nothing’s wrong. You want me to run out and get you some cream for your sunburn?”

  
Simmons nodded. “Would you mind? I’m dying here.”

  
Grif turned to leave, on second thought, he went to Simmons and gave him a big hug. Poor Simmons winced in pain. “Ahh, don’t do that!”

  
Grif let go. “Sorry, it’s just that I love you so much.”

  
Simmons looked at him like he was crazy. Was he up to something? “I love you too. Just don’t try to kill me.”

  
“No, of course not. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  
  
When Grif got back, Simmons was soaking in a cool bath. “Here, I got some cream. This should help take the burn out.”

  
“Oh thank god.”

  
Grif took off the cap and as gently as he could, he lathered the aloe cream on his burnt face, arm, and leg. Simmons still flinched and cried out in pain.“Man, you weren’t lying. You do burn really fast.”

  
Simmons snapped. “Yeah, no kidding.” He was in too much pain to be nice.

  
Grif felt bad for him. “There all done, you’ll start feeling better soon.” He gently kissed his lips, it was the only part of his face that wasn’t burnt.

  
“And your Mom mentioned about going out to a luau tonight. There is no way I’m going to it.” He stretched out on the bed and pouted.

  
“Well, I’ll stay here with you tonight. Mom and Kai will have more fun without us”

  
“It’s stupid for you to miss out on your vacation. I can stay here and read, I’ll still have fun.”

  
“Yeah, cause you’re a loser. This is ‘our’ vacation not mine. I don’t wanna go without you. Anyway, you might feel better by tonight.” He stretched out beside him, too afraid to even touch him.

  
“I doubt it.” It was no use, Simmons was determined to be crabby. He turned, with his back facing Grif.

  
Grif needed a way out of this. He didn’t want to face his mother alone, he needed Simmons at his side. He had too many horrible childhood memories to deal with. He didn’t know which old wounds his mother would bring up.

  
Even though Simmons was mad at him, Grif tried his best to curl up beside him. Simmons stiffened up, but turned to face him. Since his cyborg arm was the only thing not sunburnt, he held Grif closer to him.

  
They must have dozed off. The next thing they knew, Leilani was knocking at their door. Hey Dexter and Dick, you boys alright in here?”

  
Simmons jumped awake. “Yeah, Grif was helping me with this damn sunburn.”

  
“Ohh, that’s a shame sweetie. We were getting ready for the luau, I wish you two would come.”

  
Simmons was still in pain. “Sorry, but I can’t. Grif, go ahead and go. I was planning on calling the kids.”

  
Leilani sat at the edge of the bed, and smiled when she heard her grandkids mentioned. Grif was awake, but not saying much.

She put her hand on his shoulder. “You know, that little Dexter of yours looks just like you.”

  
“You weren’t around that much, how would you remember?”

He felt all numb inside. Simmons elbowed him to stop acting rude. He wasn’t sorry. When he was a kid, he would have anything for his mother, and she failed him.

  
Leilani was quiet. “Yeah, I deserve that. We need to talk, not everything is what it seems to be. There’s some things you don’t understand.”

  
“What’s to understand? You and Dad had two kids you didn’t want, and only loved the younger one. It was my bad luck to be the oldest. I understand it perfectly.”

  
He got up to storm into the bathroom. He wouldn’t let his mother see him cry, he wouldn’t let her know how badly she hurt him.

  
It was awkward for Simmons and Leilani. He couldn’t figure out how any parent couldn’t love their kids. He was missing his three so badly back on Chorus, they were everything to him.

  
Leilani looked so sad. Simmons believed that really did love Grif. “You know, I can try talking to him tonight. Maybe I can convince him to listen to you.”

  
Tears ran down her face. “You’d do that for me? Aww, you’re an angel.” She gave him another rib crushing hug and a big kiss on his cheek. He wanted to cower away from her in fear. Luckily she didn’t notice and was off.

  
Oh lord, he had to check on Grif. “Hey, you Okay I’m there?” He could could hear Grif crying. “I’m coming in. Are you alright?”

  
Grif tried to hide his tears. He shook his head. “No way, I’ll never be. We should just leave, tonight while she and Kai are out.”

  
“No, we can’t do that. Your past is going to haunt you until you do. Listen to what she has to say, then we can leave. I’ll be there with you whole time, you’re never alone.” He squeezed his hand.

  
Grif felt miserable, but he was better off knowing that his husband loved him.  
  


 

 


	16. Chapter 16

  
  
“Grif, are okay there? I want to talk to the kids.”

  
He was wiping away the last of his tears. “Yeah, I’m getting there. Tell them we’re probably coming home earlier than we thought.”

  
“Good, I hate having vacations.” He sprawled out on the bed beside Grif and called. Tucker answered.

  
“Hey Simmons, how’s the romance department going for you?”

  
“Ugh, don’t ask, it’s as nonexistent as ever. We got to put up with his mother and Kai. Now I have a 2nd degree sunburn, it’s been a nightmare. We’re thinking of coming home early.”

  
“Aw, that sucks man. You guys deserve to have a good time.”

  
“Yeah right. How are the kids doing?”

  
“You’re kids are great, they’re total angels. Jake was missing you big time last night, he pretty much cried himself to sleep.”

  
Simmons’ heart ached, he didn’t want his son to be sad. “Is he okay now?”

  
“Yeah, he’s been running around playing with the other kids. Dex has been helping through it. And did you know that Mira knows the Heimlich maneuver?”

  
Simmons was surprised. “No, I didn’t. She does spend a lot a lot of time with Dr. Grey. I feel better that she does know it.”

  
“David swallowed a lego block, and scared the hell out of us. I didn’t know how to the Heimlich, but she did.”

  
“How the hell do you not know that? That’s the first thing they teach us in Basic training. That’s ridiculous.”

  
“All right nerd, shut up, I went through this shit with Wash. I know I fucked up big time.”

  
“Okay sorry. Are the kids busy?”

  
“Not really, they’re playing video games. I’ll catch one of them.”

  
Simmons looked over at Grif. He had so many depression issues as it was, and he wasn’t looking too well. “I’ll put the phone on speaker, talk to the kids. It’ll cheer you up.”

  
“Or make me worse, I wanna be home with them.”

  
Dex came on the line. “Hi Dad, I miss you.”

  
“Hey buddy, I miss you too.” Simmons tried not to get choked up over hearing his voice.

  
“Hey Dex, you being good?” Grif tried to break out of his depression for his kids.

  
Dex laughed. “Of course I am.” He sounded so cocky.

  
Grif chuckled. “Yeah right, you’re an angel with horns kiddo.”

  
There was a struggle on the other end. “Watch out, Mira wants to talk.”

  
“Hi Daddy, I love you. I want you to come home.”

  
Hearing her voice, Grif almost lost it. “Hi baby, I love you too. We’ll be home sooner than we thought.”

  
“You promise? I want you home now.” She sounded pouty, she was on the verge of crying.

  
“Yeah I promise. I miss you guys too much.” His tears started up again, he couldn’t stop it. Simmons worried about him.

  
She groaned. “Jake wants to talk to Daddy.”

  
Now Simmons worried if he could handle it. “Hi Jake, you having fun honey?”

  
“Yes, Uncle Tucker comes up with fun stuff for us to do. Dex showed me how to play video games, I can beat Mira now.”

  
Simmons smiled through his tears. “That’s great buddy.”

  
Grif calmed down his tears. “Cool Jakey, we’ll have a video game marathon together when we get back.”

  
Jacob sounded so happy. “Okay Daddy, that’s fun.”

  
“Are you going to be okay for sleeping tonight?” Simmons hated the thought of him being homesick.

  
“Yeah, Uncle Wash took care of me. I can be brave with him here.”

  
“That’s good. We’ll be home soon, it’ll be okay. Love you buddy.”

  
“Love you too Daddy.”

  
Tucker came on again. “Hey Simmons, Wash wants to talk to Grif.”

  
Simmons forced the phone to Grif, he kept backing away from it. Simmons excused himself to the bathroom so Grif could have some privacy.

“Hello Wash.” He was as sarcastic as he could sound. He didn’t need or want any advice.

  
“Nice to talk to you too. I just want to say to be easy on your mother. I know you feel like she abandoned you, but at least she’s trying to make up for it. That’s more than my own parents would do. Even Simmons still can’t get his father to talk to him.”

  
“Yeah, so what? I would prefer it if she would leave me alone.”

  
“You need to think about your kids.”

  
“Hey, I’m great to my kids, I love them a lot.”

  
“Exactly, don’t they deserve to at least have one of their grandparents in their lives?”

  
Shit, he made sense. “Just because she pretends to care doesn’t mean she does. She’s liable to walk out on them too.”

  
“If she’s that stupid, then it’s on her. You tried, that’s the best you can do.”

  
“Ugh, Between you and Simmons, I’m being double teamed. So fine, I will listen to what she has to say, but that’s all I promise. I’ll keep an open mind, but no guarantees I’ll forgive her.”

  
“That’s fair enough. I’m going to give you one more piece of advice. At some point before you leave Hawaii, take your husband out and do something special for him. That’s what he had his heart set on doing with you. He deserves this.”

  
Grif’s bad mood melted away. “Oh man, I already know that. I tried a few things here and there, I can’t seem to find the perfect moment.”

  
“I’ll look online for something in Honolulu. I’ll text you the info when I find it.”

  
Grif was relieved. “Thanks Wash, I’m not good at this mushy romance crap that he likes so much. See ya.”

  
Grif tapped on the bathroom door. “I’m all done. You can stop hiding.”

  
Simmons looked a little nervous. “Are you going through with it?”

  
Grif hesitantly nodded. “Yep, on one condition. If I have by my side while we’re talking.” He was afraid of the answer.

  
“That’s kind of awkward. This is family business.”

  
“You are family. The only one who counts right now. I can’t do this without you. I don’t know what kind of ancient shit she’s gonna bring up. You know my depression issues, I can’t handle it.”

  
It felt good for Simmons to know how much Grif still needed him. “Of course I will. I’ll never leave you.”

  
Now all he had to do was wait for his mother to come home. Good lord, he couldn’t do this.  
  
  



	17. Chapter 17

 

  
Grif and Simmons were sitting together on the couch watching TV when Leilani and Kai got home. They were both wearing multicolored leis and Kai had been drinking way too much.

  
She took off her lei and slipped over Simmons’ head. “There you go sexy, you look even better.”

  
Simmons threw it off and wished she’d act normal. Grif frowned at her. “Paws off my guy, go to bed. You’re freaking annoying.”

  
She giggled wildly. “You guys are no fun, I’m going to bed.” She could hardly walk straight.

  
Grif shook her head, he was embarrassed sometimes that she was his sister. Leilani laughed about it like Kai did something clever. She sat on the couch beside Grif. He flinched away and moved closer to Simmons.

  
“Ready to have a little talk honey?”

  
He shrugged. “Maybe.” He grabbed Simmons’ hand. He was scared.

  
“I hoped we could talk in private…”

  
Grif stopped her. “Uh no, anything you say to me, you can say in front of my husband. This is how we work, we do everything together.”

  
Simmons was embarrassed, but he squeezed Grif’s hand. He wouldn’t go anywhere if Grif needed him.

  
Leilani took a deep breath. “The man you thought was your father actually wasn’t. Your real father died during the Great War before you were born.”

  
Well shit, this was direct and to the point. He was not only unwanted but lied to as well. This was why he needed therapy.

  
“Charles Grif was an old family friend. I married him because I was pregnant with you. He claimed he was okay with raising another man’s child, but he wasn’t.”

  
“So that’s why he hated me?”

  
“Oh, he didn’t really hate you, it wasn’t easy for him to handle. The two of us were never compatible. All we did was fight, and we both drank too much. He was pissed at me all the time, it wasn’t because of you, but he took it out on you.”

  
“Hell, that’s the same thing. Who was my real father?”

  
“He was a Sim trooper stationed at Armada 8. He went by the codename Biff. His first name was Dexter, you were named after him. He was on a weekend break to Earth, Honolulu of all places. He came into the bar I was working at for a beer.” Her eyes were tearing up talking about him.

  
Simmons kind of worried about her. “If this too hard for you, maybe we should stop…”

  
Grif interrupted. “No, not when the truth is finally getting out. Why didn’t you marry my father instead of the jerk you ended up with?”

  
“Biff was only supposed to be here for the weekend, I didn’t plan on seeing much of him. I even gave him a fake name when he asked me, Georgina.” She chuckled lightly.

  
Grif was confused. “Why the hell did you make up that name?”

  
“I have no idea. I had just gotten off my shift, he bought me a couple of drinks. I wasn’t thinking straight. After we spent the night together, I didn’t really plan on seeing him again.”

  
Grif was curious, but it was super awkward having his mother tell him he was conceived during a one night stand.

  
“I saw him a few more times after that, then he went back to the Army. When I found out I was pregnant, I managed to send a message to him at the Armada 8 outpost.”

  
“So I take it he wasn’t interested in me either?”

  
“Oh no, he was thrilled when I told him. He started making plans that very day. He was going to try every scheme he could to get discharged so he could come home. He wanted to marry me and he was excited to be a father. He loved you from the start. He never got to come home.”

  
Grif felt like he could barely catch his breath. The one person in the world that wanted him when he was a child was the one who died. His voice cracked. “How did he die?”

  
“I was told there was a terrible accident during a simulation training. But I heard rumors he was at the wrong place at the wrong time, and some Agents unintentionally killed him because he was in the way. I’m not really sure.”

  
He had tears running down his face. He couldn’t help but wonder how different his life would be if his real father had raised him. All through his childhood, Grif got the shitty end of the deal.

  
“You didn’t have a chance to know him that well, did you really love him?”

  
She didn’t hesitate. “Oh yes, I loved him with all my heart. We would have been a happier family with him here. I feel that he was my true love, I see the same thing with you and Dick. Sometimes it’s meant to be.”

  
“I heard you weren’t crazy over the fact that I married a guy. You said something like that to Kai.”

  
“Yeah, at first I wasn’t thrilled, but then I saw the two of you together. It’s obvious you’re in love. You make sure you hang onto him, he’s a good guy.”

  
“Don’t worry, I knew that the first time I saw him. I never felt that way before.”

  
He glanced over at Simmons. His face was bright red and he looked so uncomfortable, and it wasn’t all because of the sunburn. The way he looked at Grif with so much love in his eyes, he knew he felt the same way.

  
“Dexter, I want you to understand, all those years you thought I hated you, that wasn’t true. I felt responsible for your father’s death, I blamed myself. When you were born, I saw so much of him in you, I felt guilty all over again. I made you suffer to spare my own pain. I’m sorry, I had no right to do that.”

  
“Mom, I appreciate you finally telling me all this. I honestly gotta say, I hate you less than I did before. Maybe at some point in my life I can forgive you, I just don’t know when.”

  
She gave his hand a squeeze. “I know a lot of bad stuff went on for so many years. It’ll take time for all of us to heal. Take the rest of the night to think about what I said. I’ll let you guys have some time alone now. Goodnight.”

  
Grif didn’t know what to think. He leaned his head against Simmons, he really needed some support.

  
He knew he had to help Grif. “You know, some of that makes sense now.”

  
Grif frowned as he thought about it. “What part of that story would make any sense.”

  
“When I first wanted to have kids, you were afraid you wouldn’t be a good father because yours was terrible.”

  
“Yeah, what about it?”

  
“You turned out to be a great father and your real father would have been good to you. That’s where you get it from. You see, even though he died, he can still on through you and our kids.”

  
Grif thought about it and then shrugged. “I still wish he would have lived, I needed him growing up. My life sucked so bad.”

  
“Well, it’s not so bad now, is it?”

  
“No, you and the kids make it all worth it.”

  
They were all he ever needed.  



	18. Chapter 18

 

Grif tossed and turned in his sleep. He was back on the battlefield. Guns were blazing and soldiers cried out in pain. Through the smoke and rubble, Grif saw a familiar face.

  
He was face to face with another solider, in orange armor so similar to his own. The two met face to face, the other solider looked curiously at him.

With no warning, he shoved Grif out of the way, within mere seconds a sharp object impaled the strange solider. Grif watched helplessly as he bled to death right in front of him.

  
Grif screamed himself awake. “Dad! Don’t leave me!” His cries woke up Simmons.

  
Right away, his arms grabbed ahold of his trembling husband. “Shh honey, it’s alright. I’m here, you’re safe.”

  
Grif could make out Simmons’ concerned face looking down at him as he tried to hold Grif’s arms from all the trashing around he was doing in his sleep.

  
Grif tried to tell what was reality and what was the dream. “Oh god, my Dad, I saw my Dad. He was killed. He pushed me out of the way, he saved me. They killed him!” He was still shaking.

  
“Calm down, it was a dream. There’s no battle, you’re all done with those. You’re safe here with me.”

  
He held Grif tightly until his breathing came back to normal and the shaking went away. He laid his head against Simmons’ shoulder and cried his eyes out. Simmons buried his face in Grif’s black, curly hair and held him until he cried himself to sleep.

  
Grif woke up later with a tear stained face and bloodshot eyes. Simmons paused in the middle of brushing his teeth to check on him.

  
“Wow, you look shit. Maybe you did go through a war last night.” Simmons wanted to joke Grif out of his depression.

  
Grif made a face and threw his pillow at him. “Shut up nerd, that dream was terrible.” He looked so serious.

  
Simmons went to the sink to spit out his toothpaste and sat beside him. “This will take some time to sink in. You don’t handle change well. Just be absolutely sure you take your antidepressants today.”

  
Grif glared at him. He hated being reminded like he was a child. “Yes Dad.”

  
“Don’t you start with me, you don’t like being treated like a kid, yet you make me feel like I got four of them instead of three.” He went to finish in the bathroom.

  
“I’ll make it easier for you and run away.”

  
“Good, make sure you take the other three with you when you do. That’s my real vacation.”

  
In spite of the pain, Simmons always could joke Grif out his dangerous depression moments. Simmons tried not to think about it much, but he already had one suicide scare with Grif, he didn’t want any more. He couldn’t live without Grif.

  
While Simmons was gargling with mouthwash, Grif’s text signal went off. It was from Wash. “I found the perfect romantic spot for you two. Call me when you get a moment.”

  
This was perfect, he couldn’t wait to surprise Simmons.

“What are you doing?”

  
Grif was startled, he made a big show of hiding his phone. “No…thing. Why, what are you doing?”

  
“What are you hiding from me?”

  
“I was checking the weather. It changes so often here on the island, you need to be prepared.”

  
“Why wouldn’t you want me to know about the weather?”

  
“Cause it’s supposed to rain. I know how you say the weather irritates your cyborg joints.”

  
“Uh-Huh, you’re getting weirder by the moment.”

  
They left the room together to get some breakfast. Kai was there, drinking some coffee. She waved to them. That gave Grif an idea.

  
“You know what would be fun?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “Kai, why don’t you take Simmons out and help him find souvenirs for the kids.”

  
A big smile lit up her face. “You mean like a date?”

  
Simmons looked mortified. “NO!” He looked at Grif like he was crazy.

  
“Yes, she knows where all the best shops are. We gotta take them home something great.”

  
“Then why don’t you come too?”

  
“I have been severely traumatized by the news of my past. I’m in no condition to go anywhere.”

  
“Then just have Kai pick some stuff up for them.”

  
Grif pretended to look insulted. “The gifts have to be from their Dads, and you them better than anyone. It’s not the same if you don’t go.”

  
Simmons motioned for Grif to step out of the kitchen. “Can I talk to you out there for a second?”

  
“No, you can say it in front of Kai.”

  
“Yeah, talk in front of me. I don’t care.” She was barely paying attention anyway.

  
“What I have to say might be insulting.”

  
“So say it anyway. She’s too stupid to be offended.”

  
Simmons looked. She was flipping through her phone, laughing at something stupid. Yeah, Grif was right.

  
“I used to date her, don’t you think that’s kind of awkward?”

  
Grif chuckled. “Dude, it was only once, and it wasn’t much of a date to begin with. You’ll be fine.” He whacked Kai on the arm. “You wanna go chaperone Simmons?”

  
“Hell yeah, I’ll grab my shoes.”

  
Simmons glared at Grif. “I really hate you right now.” As he went to get ready.

  
Grif smiled to himself. ‘But you’ll love me tomorrow night.’ He hid away to the bathroom to call Wash.

  
“Hi Grif, I got the perfect evening for you. It’s an evening on a cruise ship, a dinner buffet is included. The night ends with a spectacular fireworks display. The best part is this is the off-season, it won’t be very crowded. You’ll have a lot of one on one time.”

  
“Hey that sounds cool. Simmons gets airsick, but he’s fine on boats.”

  
“Great, because I already made the reservations in your name for tonight. You have no choice. Happy honeymoon!”

  
“Wash, you’re so sneaky. We’ll have a blast together.”

  
“I thought so, I hope you have as much fun as Tucker and I did on our honeymoon.”

  
“Where did you two go that weekend?”

  
“Up to Chorus’ only mountain range. We hiked to the top and camped out for the night. It was beautiful up there.”

  
“Oh man, how do you call that fun? Simmons would like that, but I’d have a stroke.”

  
Wash laughed. “That figures, just show him a good time. He really wants to spend time with you. This will work, I guarantee it.”

  
“Thanks Wash, I owe you one.”

  
I gotta keep this a secret. He couldn’t wait to show Simmons that he was the nerd of his dreams.

 


	19. Chapter 19

 

Grif sat at the kitchen with his Mom playing cards when Kai and Simmons got back. Each had an armload of bags. At least they had plenty of souvenirs.

  
“Did you two kids have fun?” Leilani asked innocently.

  
Grif grinned at Simmons. He looked worn out and totally ticked off.

  
“Well, I wouldn’t go straight to fun.” He glared at Kai behind her back.

  
She dropped her bags on the table. “It was abso-amazing.”

  
“There was no damn part of this island that she didn’t drag me too. I love exercise, but this is ridiculous.”

  
“Hey, I gave you the grand tour of the island. Only the best kind of date for my super special sexy brother-in-law.”

  
She flounced off to change her clothes. Simmons sat and tried to get the feeling back in his feet.

“Way to ditch me with a psycho.”

  
Grif still chuckled over it. “Aww, she’s not psycho, just eccentric. At least you got a good haul of souvenirs.” He searched through a bag. “Did I get anything?”

  
Simmons rummaged through one of the bags. “Here.” He tossed him a bag of coffee. “It’s Kona blend, I thought you might like it.”

  
“Oh yeah, that’s the good stuff.”

  
“I picked some up for Wash and Tucker too since they’re babysitting for us.”

  
He got up and was headed for the bedroom. Now was Grif’s chance to get him ready for his gift.

  
“You know what we should do?”  
Simmons stopped him. “All I want to do is soak in a hot bath, then start packing since we’re leaving tomorrow.”

  
“No, I think we should dress up and go out together.”

  
“Umm, that would be nice, but no. I’m too tired and I’m too over Hawaii. I want this all to end.”

  
Ugh, why is he so stubborn? “Just humor me okay? Please come with me tonight, it’ll be fun, trust me.”

  
The serious look on Grif’s face made Simmons change his mind. He didn’t know why, but he did trust him. “Alright, I’ll give you one last chance. I’ll get ready.”

  
Grif was nervous as he drove them down to the Waikiki port. He could see the small cruise ship at the dock. He hoped Simmons would like this.

  
Simmons looked confused. “Why are we at the dock?”

  
Grif figured he better tell him. “This just happens to be the cruise ship that we’ll be sailing on tonight.”

  
Simmons was quiet for a moment. Grif got worried, he wanted him to have a good time tonight. “This is great, I haven’t been on a boat in ages. Thank you.”

  
Grif breathed a sigh of relief. “C’mon, let’s check it out. There’s supposed to be a buffet on board.”

  
Simmons’ heart sank, food was all Grif would be concerned with, he would never be number one to Grif. He should have known there was a catch to this trip.

Yep, just as he thought, Grif was loading up a plate filled with shrimp and cocktail sauce.

  
Simmons went over to the bar and got himself a mineral water served in a fancy glass. He hardly ever drank alcohol. Grif came over and got himself a coke.

“Why don’t you make yourself a plate? The seafood’s really good.”

  
Simmons shook his head. “No, maybe later. I’m going to check out the view from the deck. If you can tear yourself away from the food, maybe you can join me.”

  
He knew Grif wasn’t listening, he was busy filling his second plate. He walked brokenheartedly up to the deck. The view was incredible, it was almost sunset. He wished Grif was with him to see it. But no, food was more important than Simmons was.

  
He felt movement behind him. Grif was there, holding two champagne glasses. “Here, I thought you could use this.”

  
“No, I don’t really drink…”

  
“Oh come on, live a little. It’s only champagne, it’s not like you’re gonna get drunk.”

  
Simmons smiled. “Alright.” He sipped at it. “This stuff is really good.”

  
“You see, I told you.” He stood behind Simmons and wrapped his arm around him and pulled him close. He propped his chin on Simmons’ skinny shoulders and watched the view.

  
“Grif, we should watch out, there’s a lot of people around.”

  
“So what? Let ‘em watch. As far as I’m concerned it’s only us.”

  
Simmons got a big smile. It felt good to be able to let go and not care what others thought about them for once. Grif was right.

  
They stood together at the deck railing, watching as the pinks and corals of the setting sun slipped behind the mountains in the distance. The colors reflected off Simmons’ lenses. Grif was looking more at him than he was at the sky. He thought it was the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen.

  
Simmons watched the sun until it completely disappeared. As the sky got darker, he turned to Grif. He could feel the weight of his stare the entire time.

Grif surprised him with a long, passionate kiss. Right on the deck, right in front of everyone, and no one seemed to care.

  
As if on cue, the fireworks display was starting. When Grif broke away from Simmons he had to laugh. “The fireworks are right on cue, I’m more talented than I thought.”

  
Simmons chuckled too. “Don’t flatter yourself.” He leaned back against Grif to watch the rest of the fireworks.

  
Grif spoke softly in his ear. “Now aren’t you glad I made you come?”

  
“On the boat trip or the Hawaiian trip in general?”

  
“Yeah, all of it.”

  
“Strangely yes to both. We needed this. We got to bring the kids out to see the island someday.”

  
“Okay we will, but there’s one rule for tonight, no talking about the kids. Tonight is about us, only us.”

  
The fireworks ended and the cruise ship headed back to the dock. Simmons hated for the night to have to end. Grif was being so perfect. He looked up at the night sky. It was nice and clear, the stars were so bright. He couldn’t count how many constellations he could pick out.

  
“Hey whatcha thinking about?”

  
“Look up at those stars, it’s so bright. The moon is almost full.” Simmons always was a nerd for space.

  
“Neat, how about when we get to the house, we’ll take some blankets outside and stargaze in the backyard before going to bed?”

  
“That’s the perfect ending to our evening.” Simmons was amazed with the change in Grif tonight.

  
“I said to trust me, didn’t I?”

  
Simmons shook his head. “I don’t know why I ever doubted you.”

  
  


 


	20. Chapter 20

 

“Tucker, where are you at?”

  
He poked his head through the screen door. “I’m outside playing tag with the boys, why Wash?”

  
“Simmons just called. He and Grif will be at the airport soon. Are the kids packed up and ready?”

  
“Uh, sure… no, not really. After this game, I’ll get the kids ready. It won’t take long, don’t worry.” He slammed the screen door shut and continued on with his game.

  
Wash sighed and shook his head. Tucker was as bad as the kids were. He found the girls playing dress up in Chloe’s room. He knocked on the door.

  
“You two being good in here?”

  
Chloe looked up from styling Mira’s hair and smiled innocently at him. “Yep, I’m redoing Mira’s hair so her dads can see how cute she looks.”

That sounded innocent enough

  
“Mira honey, your dads are on their way, so make sure you get your stuff packed for them, Okay?”

  
“Kay Uncle Wash, when we’re done.”

  
Neither one seemed to be listening. “Or you two could get the packing done now, and play afterwards.”

  
Chloe made a face. “Dad was right, you are a buzzkill. We wanna have fun, then we’ll pack.”

  
“Don’t listen to everything your father says.”

  
Chloe giggled. “Don’t worry Daddy, we got this.”

  
Wash went and settled on the couch to read the newspaper. If no one else in his family cared, neither would he. This was the last of his vacation, he planned on enjoying it.

  
Later, he heard a light knocking at the door. Simmons was there with arms loaded with bags. Grif was no help as usual. He gave Wash a grateful smile as he took some of the bags for him.

  
“Thank you Wash, at least you have manners.” He glared at Grif. “Unlike some lazy asses.”

  
Grif gave him an innocent look. “Hey, the honeymoon is over baby, you’re on your own.”

  
“So I take it that you two had fun?”

  
“Yesterday was perfect, someone was even being romantic. But you see how well that’s working out for me today?”

  
Grif wanted to change the subject. “Where the hell is everyone? It’s so quiet.”

  
“The boys are out playing tag with Tucker, and the girls are playing dress up.”

  
Simmons raised an eyebrow. “Mira? Playing dress up?”

  
“Yeah, Chloe’s a bad influence. You should have seen her the other day. She had play makeup on and everything. She wanted to surprise you guys today.”

  
Grif chuckled. “Oh man, I can’t wait to see this.”

  
“I’ll go holler to the boys that you’re here.”

  
“No Wash, I’ll go out and join them.” Grif had a grin on his face.

  
“You are going to play tag?” Simmons didn’t believe that.

  
“Hell no, I’m not gonna play. I’m not running unless I’m getting chased by something. I wanna see how long until they realize I’m out there.”

  
He stepped out on the back porch wondering how long it would take. Tucker saw him first. He tried not to laugh and give the joke away. They both stood watching the kids.

  
Dex saw him before Jacob. He casually glanced over and did a double take when he realized it was his Dad standing there.

  
“Dad, you’re home!” He went running for him as fast as he could.

  
Jacob was right behind him. “Daddy!” With his long skinny legs, he could run faster than his older brother. They both made it to Grif at the same time.

  
Grif knelt down to grab them. He couldn’t believe how much he missed them. He had tears in his eyes as he hugged them tight. “Oh, I missed you guys.”

  
He put an arm around each of them. Tucker followed behind with David in his arms. “It wasn’t easy, but I caught these two characters for you.”

  
He pretended to have them in a headlock as he passed them to Simmons, who knelt down to hug them. Jacob starting crying and grabbed ahold of him. Simmons couldn’t hold back his tears either.

  
“Daddy, I missed you!” He wouldn’t let go of simmons’ neck.

  
“I missed you too honey.” He kissed him on the forehead.

He reached over to pull Dex in closer. “Hey buddy, good job watching over your brother and sister for me.”

  
Dex was trying to be brave, but he had a hard time holding back his tears too. “I’m glad you’re home Dad.”

  
The bedroom door opened and Chloe stepped out first, then Mira came out. Her red curls were braided into pig tails, she had on makeup and was wearing a yellow printed dress.

  
She had a big smile on her face as walked over to her dads. “How do I look?”

  
Simmons was in shock, Grif chuckled over it, and her brother’s straight out laughed at her.

  
Grif recovered first as she went to hug him. He held her in his arms and gave her a big hug. “You’re beautiful, you look like a little princess.”

  
Simmons went over and looked closer at her. “You’re wearing makeup?”

  
Wash had to step in. “Hey guys, I thought you two were going to cool with the makeup?”

  
Chloe shrugged. “It was Mira’s idea. She did it herself. I told her so.”

  
“You didn’t do too bad a job on it, but how do you know how to put on makeup?”

  
“I don’t know, it just fun. It’s like art, I’m good at it.”

  
“And you’re wearing a dress? I have fought with you since you were a baby to wear dresses, and you never would.”

  
“I think it’s pretty, I like it.”

  
“It’s an old dress of mine that doesn’t fit anymore. It fits Mira perfectly.” Chloe felt she had to add that in.

  
Simmons took his daughter into his arms. “Don’t grow up too fast kiddo, I can’t handle it.” They gave each other big hugs.

In the last four years, it had been hard for Simmons to bond with his only daughter as well as he could with his sons. They both worked at it, now they were really close. But she would always be Grif’s little girl.

  
“Let’s face it Simmons, our little boy is becoming a girl. We’re just going to have to face it.”

  
Simmons looked closer at her outfit. “Maybe not quite yet. She is wearing tennis shoes and socks with a dress, so she’s not there yet.”

  
Grif had to tease her. “You know now you need high heels and pantyhose?”

  
She made a face. “Eww, no way. I’ll stick with jeans and t-shirts then.” She had a thought. “Can I get some makeup?”

  
Simmons was scared. “No way, not until you’re thirty!”

  
She snuck a look at Grif, he had her back. He motioned with a maybe expression when he thought Simmons wasn’t looking. She smiled at him.

  
Simmons and Grif got the kids ready. “Uh Wash, there’s some coffee there for you and Tucker, and we brought back some souvenirs for Chloe and David.”

  
“Thank you guys, you didn’t need to do that.”

  
Grif had his arms full with luggage. “Alright come on loser, I wanna get home.” He didn’t wait for Simmons to move, he practically ran him over.

  
Well, Grif was back to normal. Poor Simmons sighed, guess the honeymoon was really over.

After he and Grif had the luggage and the kids loaded in, Grif stopped for a second to give him a little kiss before getting in the car.

  
Hmm, maybe it wouldn’t have to end after all.

 


End file.
